
Qass_X^'^ . . ' . '■■~ ''l 



Book. 



THE LIVING PULPIT OF THE 
CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



■?J(^m 





R Mf Carroll & Co. PuiKshers, Cmeiim.ilL. 






THE 

^^f'^ Living Pulpit 

OF THE 

CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

A SERIES OF DISCOURSES, 
DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL, 

FROM REPRESENTATIVE MEN AMONG THE 

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST. 

With a Brief Biographical Sketch and Steel Portrait 
OF EACH Contributor. 



arranged. ^:^ND edited BY 

W^ tY^ MOORE 



!^ 




CINCINNATI : 

R. W. CARROLL & CO., PUBLISHERS, 

i86q. 



z.-^ 



3>i^,% 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by 
R. W. CARROLL & CO., 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for 
the Southern Distri6l of Ohio, 



SilvTH THOUSAND. 



^ 



^ 



Contents. 



SUBJECT. CONTRIBUTOR. PAGE. 

Introduction. . . ; *..... Editor 1 1 

The Good Confession D, S. Burnet. ... 47 

Jesus of Nazareth is the Theanthropos H. T. Anderson.. 71 

Atonement Thomas Munnell. 87 

Jesus the First and the Last L. L. Pinker ton. . 105 

Reconciliation James Challen. . . 131 

Christ's Precious Invitation L. B. Wilkes. ... 147 

What must I do to be Saved ? K- O. A. Burgess. . . 167 

The Conditions of the Gospel Reasonable... G. W. Longan . . 187 

Regeneration Robert Graham. . 209 

Christ's Conversation with Nicodemus M. E. Lard.,,. 231 

Baptism — Its Action, Subject, and Design.... J. S. Szveeney.., 255 

Baptism Essential to Salvation JV. H. Hopson. . . 279 

he Ministry of the Holy Spirit W. K. Pendleton. 305 

The Witness of the Spirit J- ^' M'Garvey. 327 

The Church — Its Identity Benj. Franklin. . , 341 

(v) 



CONTENTS. 



SUBJECT. CONTRIBUTOR PAGE. 

Building on the One Foundation T. P. Haley .... 359 

The Safety and Security of the Christian.. . R. Milligan 371 

The Priesthood of Christ John Shackelford, 389 

The History of Redemption Reproduced in 

THE Redeemed J' ^' Lamar .... 401 

Death and Life David Walk .... 413 

The Love of God William Baxter, 43 1 

Glorying in the Cross only C, L, Loos 447 

The Law of Progressive Development Isaac Errett , ... 471 

Conscience and Christianity A. S. Hay den. , , 497 

The Mission of the Church of Christ Tolbert Fanning. 517 

Faith and Sight W. T. Moore, . . 539 

Retribution A, R. Benton ... 561 

The Judgment to Come'. \u\ Joseph King .... 577 



PUBLISHERS' Preface. 



TN Issuing this volume the Publishers desire to say a 
few words by way of explanation. 

When they conceived the idea of publishing a series 
of discourses from the Disciples of Christ, they were at a 
loss how to discriminate in the seledion of persons from 
whom to solicit contributions. There had come to be 
such a host of talented men engaged in the great cause to 
which they dedicate their lives — so many of them elo- 
quent, learned, and powerful — that it was very difficult to 
decide who would most fitly represent the Ministry of the 
Church. While they believe they offer to the public 
contributions from Representative Men in the ministry, 
they know that there remains ample material for the prep- 
aration of other series of sermons, equally representing 
the talent and learning of the preachers of the Church. 
And it is, and has been, their intention to follow the 
present volume, in due course, with a second, and, pos- 
sibly, a third, until the series shall be so complete as 

(vii) 



Vlll PUBLISHERS' PREFACE. 



fairly and fully to represent the Living Pulpit of the 
Christian Church, and shall embody a mass of sermons 
wherein all the vital or important points bearing upon the 
faith, condu6l, and salvation of man will be ably and elo- 
quently discussed — furnishing in itself such a library of 
religious literature as will, next to the Bible, supply the 
Christian with his best armor for defensive and offen- 
sive warfare with Infidelity, as well as with those who do 
not hold to the faith of the Disciples. 

There is one remarkable fad: which the Publishers be- 
lieve worthy of attention. In this work are sermons from 
the pens of twenty-eight preachers, scattered here and there 
over the United States, who wrote without any consulta- 
tion, and without knowing what subjeds would be treated 
by others, or what others would say; and yet there has 
been no conflid of opinion — no contradidions or differ- 
ence of views — showing that the great body of the min- 
istry is a unit on the vital and material questions which 
distinguish the church organization of the Disciples from 
that of others. 

The biographical sketches were written by the Editor, 
though the limited space to which he was necessarily con- 
fined, and the meager data with which he was furnished 
in many instances, gave him but a poor opportunity to 
do justice to the subjeds. The opinions he has expressed 



PUBLISHERS' PREFACE. IX 

are his estimates of the charaders and abilities of the emi- 
nent persons to whom they relate; and, while he does not 
claim infallibility for what he has said, it is believed the 
sermons themselves will vindicate his high appreciation 
of their authors. He was fully impressed with the deli- 
cacy of his task, but has the satisfa6tion of knowing that 
he has discharged his duty in a conscientious and im- 
partial manner. 

The Publishers might further say, that the appearance 
of a Discourse in this colledlion, from the pen of the 
Editor, was mainly due to the fad that they announced 
him in the Prospeftus Book as a contributor, without 
his knowledge or consent. This, and the urgent solici- 
tation of friends, did not leave him at liberty to decline. 

The Publishers feel a just pride in the elegant style in 
which they have issued this work. They do not fear a 
comparison with the best workmanship of the country, 
and they believe that they have demonstrated that books 
can be published from the great metropolis of the West 
in as attradive a style as from the more pretentious cities 
of the East. 



I 



Introduction. 



THE religious movemeiit known as the "Current 
Reformation/' marks an important era in the his- 
tory of the Church. Previous to its inauguration, the 
condition of religion in this country was truly deplora- 
ble. Numerous religious parties, whose very existence 
depended on the propagation of the selfishness which 
brought them into being, usurped the place of the 
''One Body," and became the exponents of the Chris- 
tian civilization. Ignorance and superstition were more 
valuable to these parties than an intelligent understand- 
ing of the Word of God. Human creeds became the 
standards of faith and pra6tice, while the Divine Creed 
was held by many to be little more than a ''dead letter.'* 
Consequently, for a time, the very life of religion became 
subjedl to a selfish and unrelenting despotism. Whoever 
impartially examines this period of ecclesiastical history, 
can not fail to admit that a reformation was greatly 
needed. In fad, the success of the Christian religion in 
the world depended on a movement that would break 
down the ecclesiasticisms of the age, and bring the peo- 

(11) 



12 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



pie back again to the true knowledge of Christ. Early 
in the present century an attempt at this was made. 
But before entering upon a notice of this movement, it 
is proper to call attention to what previous reformations 
had accomplished. 

Luther's was a noble work, but it was principally con- 
fined to one thing, viz. : the restoration of freedom of 
thought, freedom of speech, and the right of individual 
interpretation. This was his great distin6live work, and, 
so far as it went, it was in exactly the right diredion. It 
broke the fetters with which the Pope had bound the 
human soul, and gave liberty once more to the individual 
conscience. Further than this it did not go. 

Calvin restored to the Church the idea of God's sov- 
ereignty. This had been partially obscured by the works 
of supererogation which Catholicism enjoined upon its 
subjects; and it was necessary, to any satisfactory prog- 
ress in the restoration of Primitive Christianity, that the 
great Father should be properly recognized as the author 
of "every good and perfect gift." Extremes beget ex- 
tremes is the universal testimony of history. Hence, 
under the influence of Calvin's teachings, it was not 
long before the religious consciousness swung round to 
the extreme of a cold, lifeless formalism, which entirely 
ignored the human side in the plan of salvation, and left 
every thing to the unalterable fate of what were called 
the Divine decrees. 

Wesley restored to the Church the idea of human 



INTRODUCTION. 13 



responsibility. He taught that there was something for 
man himself to do in order to his salvation. Hence his 
teaching infused new life into the religious convidlions 
of the people, and gave a new energy to the work of 
converting the world. 

To sum up the work of these Reformations, it is suffi- 
cient to say that Luther restored Conscience to its proper 
position, Calvin restored the Divine Sovereignty, and 
Wesley, Human Responsibility , as parts of the remedial 
system. Two things yet remained to be done. The 
Word of God must be restored to its proper au- 
thority, AND such an adjustment MADE OF THE ELE- 
MENTS ELIMINATED BY THE REFORMATIONS JUST REFERRED 
TO AS WOULD SECURE A RAPID AND HARMONIOUS DEVEL- 
OPMENT OF THE RELIGION OF ChRIST IN THE WORLD. 

This, of course, would involve a complete restoration 
of the primitive order of things ; and this was the work 
proposed by the Reformation of the Nineteenth Cen- 
tury. A few words concerning the origin and charader 
of this movement are necessary at this point. 

In the year 1807, Thomas Campbell, a Presbyterian 
minister from the north of Ireland, arrived in the United 
States. He had not been in this country long when he 
conceived a plan of Christian Union upon the basis 
of the Bible, and the Bible alone. In the advocacy of this 
plan, he published the celebrated " Declaration and 
Address," and a ''Prospectus of a Religious Refor- 
mation." The burden of these papers was the ineffi- 



14 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



ciency of denominational organizations, and the necessity 
for a return to apostolic teaching and pradice, before the 
world could ever be converted to Christ. Discarding 
all human creeds and confessions of faith, a society was 
formed in Washington, Pa., for the purpose of propa- 
gating these sentiments. Soon after, two churches were 
organized, and these agreed in the purpose of "absolute 
and entire rejedlion of human authority in matters of 
religion,'' and the determination to stand by each other 
upon the proposition that the ''Holy Scriptures are all- 
sufficient, and alone sufficient, as the subjed: matter of 
faith and rule of conduct, and that, therefore, they would 
require nothing, as a matter of faith or rule of condudt, 
for which they could not give a ^hus saith the Lord^ either 
in express terms or by approved precedent^ This was the 
beginning of the great reformatory movement known 
as the Reformation of the Nineteenth Century. But 
Thomas Campbell and those who operated with him in 
Western Pennsylvania and Western Virginia were not 
alone in these efforts at a restoration of Primitive Chris- 
tianity. In Kentucky and Tennessee, Stone, Mar- 
shall, Thomson, Dunlevy, and others, were zealously 
advocating the same principles. Under the influence 
of these movements, which had no well-defined organi- 
zation, a latent force was excited, which has taken the 
body and form of what is now known as the Christian 
Church, or Disciples of Christ. 

During these initial movements to which We have 



INTRODUCTION. 1 5 



referred, many important matters, upon which the Prot- 
estant parties held erroneous views, seemed to assume 
only vague and indefinite forms. "The Organization 
of the Church," "The Call to the Ministry," "The 
Influence of the Holy Spirit," "The Ordinance of 
Baptism, its adion, subjed, and design," "The Lord's 
Supper," etc., etc., were yet to be purified from the 
dross of humanisms and restored to their original places 
in the Divine Government. In order to the more speedy 
accomplishment of this great work, in the year 1823, 
Alexander Campbell, who fully sympathized with the 
views of his father, Thomas Campbell, began the pub- 
lication of the Christian Baptist, a monthly periodical, de- 
voted to the defense of Primitive, Apostolic Christian- 
ity. In 1830 this appeared in enlarged form, under the 
title of the Millennial Harbinger, a work which has been 
as extensively read, and had as large an influence, as any 
periodical published within the present century. These 
papers, in connexion with several others published in 
diflFerent parts of the country, were specially devoted to 
the discussion of the following propositions: 

I. The all-sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures as a rule of 
faith and practice. In the discussion of this proposi- 
tion, it was affirmed that human creeds are necessarily 
schismatical in their tendency, and destructive of the 
best interests of the cause of Christ. It was shown that 
*' Christian unity can result from nothing short of the destruc- 
tion of creeds and confessions of faith, inasmuch as human 



l6 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



creeds and confessions have destroyed Christian unity T And 
that ^''whenever the setting aside of creeds and confessions 
shall be attempted^ Christians will give to the world^ and 
to angels J and to themselves^ proof that they do believe the 
Word of God!'' It was further shown that human creeds 
are incapable of presenting any thing more than partial 
views of truth. They are the products of human minds, 
and must necessarily be as short-sighted and imperfed: 
as the finite minds that produce them. Nothing but the 
Infinite Mind is capable of making a standard of faith 
suitable to every creature. The Bible is the only book 
that can claim a divine origin, consequently it is the 
only standard of faith to which all can subscribe, and 
Christian union is not possible unless all are willing to 
take it as a sufficient rule of faith and pradice. 

I I . Faith in Christy as the promised Messiah ^ and obedi- 
ence to His commandments^ constitute the only conditions of 
salvation.. No people have ever exalted the charader 
and mission of Christ in a greater degree than the Dis- 
ciples. In His divine personality all perfedlions meet. 
He is the Alpha and the Omega of the remedial system. 
Hence, faith in Him^ and obedience to Him^ are the only 
tests of fellowship in the Christian Church. This ex- 
altation of Christ above all creeds and opinions has 
been, from the beginning, one of the most distindive 
features of the movement we are considering. 

III. Christian Baptism is an immersion in water into the 
name of the Father^ Son, and Holy Spirit, In support of 



INTRODUCTION. 17 



this proposition it was argued, ist. That the original word 
means to immerse or its equivalent, and never means to 
sprinkle or pour. 2d, That the primitive Church un- 
questionably pradiced immersion. 3d, Many passages 
of Scripture are wholly meaningless unless immersion 
was the Apostolic prad:ice. Other arguments were pre- 
sented, but these three were chiefly relied on as settling 
the controversy. 

IV. None hut penitent believers are subjects of Baptism. 
Infant baptism was held to be unauthorized by the 
Scriptures, and should not, therefore, be pradiced. One 
of the cardinal rules by which the Disciples were guided 
was to do nothing in religion for which they could not 
give a *^Thus saith the Lord, either in express terms or 
by approved precedent." This rule cut off infant bap- 
tism ; for there was not a word said about it in all the Word 
of God. Besides this want of authority, the pradice itself 
was considered very injurious to the spirituality of the 
Church. It destroyed individual conscience, and brought 
into the fellowship of Christians a great many uncon- 
verted people. 

V. Baptism^ when administered to a believing penitent^ is 
for the remission of past sins. This proposition was ably 
supported, but the arguments are too numerous and too 
lengthy to be given here. A full and satisfactory dis- 
cussion of the design of baptism will be found in sev- 
eral of the discourses which are to follow. 

VI. In conversion the Holy Spirit operates through the 

2 



1 8 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Truth ^ and never without the Truths so far as we can deter- 
mine. This was simply a question q{ fa5i and not of 
power. It was not considered what the spirit could do, 
but what it actually does do. There was not a particle 
of satisfadory evidence that any one was ever converted 
without the instrumentality of the l^ruth. It was deemed 
important to inculcate Scriptural views on this subjedt, 
as a misconception of it had led many into wild and 
visionary notions concerning converting power. Hence, 
the whole subjed of spiritual influence received consid- 
erable attention, especially during the earlier days of the 
Reformation. 

VII. 'The organization of the Church in accordance with 
the Divine models. It was urged that both the Prelatical 
and Presbyterian views were contrary to the apostolic 
teaching; that there was a plurality of elders or bishops 
in every church, of equal authority, whose duty it was 
to take the oversight, feed, teach, rule, watch for the 
souls, etc., of the members, and whose official author- 
ity extended no further than the churches in which they 
were ordained. The duties of the deacons, in general 
terms, were to provide for the necessities of the poor and 
look after the temporal interests of the churches. It 
was claimed that this was the apostolic organization, and 
that a return to this was positively essential in order to 
a complete restoration of Primitive Christianity. 

VIII. A proper observance of the Lord's Supper, The 
Supper was considered an important part of every Lord's 



INTRODUCTION. 1 9 

Day service, and could not be dispensed with without 
detriment to the spiritual growth of the disciples. Be- 
sides, there could be no reasonable doubt that weekly 
communion was the pradice of the primitive churches. 

Such is a brief outline of the most important points 
contended for by the advocates of the current reforma- 
tion. Several other interesting questions were ably dis- 
cussed, but those named set forth that which was most 
distindive in the movement. 

As might have been expefted, the advocacy of these 
principles and prad:ices, so much at variance with the re- 
ligious opinions of the age, met with a very determined 
opposition from the numerous parties into which Prot- 
estantism was divided. The whole phalanx of sedari- 
anism was hurled against this reformatory movement 
with an energy and persistence unequaled in all the 
history of ecclesiastical polemics. All the Pilates and 
Herods made friends, and united their forces against the 
common enemy. This immense opposition had to be 
met by only a few brave hearts. But these, strength- 
ened by the consciousness that they were in the right, 
and guided by the unerring principles of Truth, carried 
forward the reformation with rapid and triumphant suc- 
cess. In fad, no religious movement since the days of 
the Apostles has met with such popular favor. Fifty 
years have not yet elapsed, and the little band of Disci- 
ples who inaugurated the initial movement, and who were 
despised for their very insignificance, have grown to be 



do THE LIVING PULPIT 



one of the most powerful and influential religious people 
of modern times — numbering in the United States alone 
not less than jive hundred thousand communicants. Such 
astonishing success — a success unparalleled in religious 
movements — calls for a brief notice of the causes which 
led to it. These may be stated as follows : 

I. The inherent strength of the plea itself 
WHICH the Disciples made. 

II. Their method of presenting it to the world. 
We have already considered the religious condition of 

the world when this plea for reformation was first made. 
By a reference to that period, it will be seen that a refor- 
matory movement was absolutely necessary to save the 
cause of Christ from utter disgrace and ruin. It is said 
that " coming events cast their shadows before them," 
and this was fully exemplified in the general confusion 
which preceded the Reformation. The shadow was long 
and dark, but the light was all the brighter when it came. 
The world was ready for a change, and this fact alone 
made it easier to make the plea for reformation more suc- 
cessful than it would otherwise have been. Nevertheless, 
we think there was very great strength in the plea itself 
which the Disciples made. Let us see how this is: 

I. T^he simplicity of the plea was a source of great strength. 

One thing was kept constantly before the people as the 

grand distinctive charadreristic of the movement, viz. : 

the Word of God alone ^ as a rule of faith and practice. It is 

evident the more simple the machinery, all other things 



INTRODUCTION. 21 



being equal, the more efFeftive it will be for work. This 
rule is just as true in morals as in physics. Conse- 
quently, as a mere element of success, if for no other 
reason, the '' Bible alone" dodrine commends itself to 
every thinking and candid mind. One of the chief dif- 
ficulties with which Protestants have had to contend, in 
their conflicts with the Catholic Church, has been the 
complexity of the machinery of Protestantism. While the 
Catholic Church has moved steadily on under the influ- 
ence of a single inspiration, maintaining her unity in all 
countries, and under all circumstances, the Protestant 
churches have divided their influence in a warfare among 
themselves, as well as greatly weakened each individual 
eflfort, by the complex conditions of Protestantism itself. The 
Protestant theory is to oppose an infallible Church with 
an infallible Bible; but the Protestant practice has been 
to weaken this plea, by claiming the necessity of human 
creeds; and, consequently, the Protestant movement, as a 
whole, has been greatly retarded in its progress by adding 
to the pure, simple Word of God the decrees of Augs- 
burg, Westminster, and such like ecclesiastical utterances. 
The plea which the Disciples made was, from the first, 
distinct and emphatic for the Bible alone. And wherever 
it has been presented by honest and earnest hearts, the 
trophies of vidory fully attest its power and efliciency. 

2. The consistency of the plea was another source of 
strength. 

We do not mean, by the word consistency, simply the 



22 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



harmony of all the parts of the plea among themselves. 
We mean this, and more than this. We mean that the 
position of those who advocated the present Reformation 
was in harmony with truths and that it yN2J^pra5fically what 
it professed to be. The Disciples have urged, as no other 
people have done, the right of each individual member 
of the Church, as well as each individual member of 
society, to examine the Word of God for himself. This 
they have believed to be not only right, but positively 
essential, in order to a successful establishment of the 
Christian religion in the hearts of men. Besides, they 
are thoroughly convinced that every condition of our 
being and society requires this, and that the Bible, in all 
its teachings, is in perfed: harmony with this position. 
In nothing, perhaps, have the Protestant clergy shown 
themselves to be more inconsistent than in their at- 
tempts to lord it over the consciences of men, while 
they pretend to find fault with the Papal Hierarchy for 
the very same thing. For, while the Protestant clergy 
have theoretically denied the Papal assumption of right 
to interpret the Word of God for the masses, they have 
too frequently stultified their own theory by pra5lically 
sitting in judgment upon the faith of others. Just 
here has been a vital point of controversy between Prot- 
estantism and Catholicism. In fad, it is the beginning 
and end of the whole difficulty, the sum and substance 
of all that long and bitter warfare which has been waged 
by theological pugilists for the last three or four centu- 



INTRODUCTION. 23 



ries. Had Protestantism been consistent with itself, and 
pra^lically exemplified what it professed^ much, very much, 
might have been done, even in the sixteenth century, to- 
ward staying the tide of religious despotism which was 
then sweeping all Europe. Much, indeed, was done ; 
but nothing in comparison with what should have been 
accomplished. Truth is always consistent with itself, 
and it was natural enough, therefore, for men to susped 
the purposes and doubt the correctness of the position 
of their new masters when these were found to be little 
less exadting upon the conscience than their Papal prede- 
cessors. This palpable inconsistency — this determined 
opposition to Rome on account of her assumptions of 
right to interpret the Bible for the Church, and at the 
same time claiming the right for Protestants to do the 
same thing by forcing upon the people an almost indef- 
inite number of theological dogmas — is, beyond ques- 
tion, the weak point of Protestantism. Try to avoid it 
as much as we will, the conclusion forces itself upon us, 
that here is a plain and monstrous inconsistency. To 
remedy this evil, and enable us thereby to meet success- 
fully the encroachments of Rome upon civil and relig- 
ious liberty, the plea of the present reformation has been, 
and is now, not only to theoretically allow, but earnestly 
and pradically to enforce upon society the right of indi- 
vidual conscience in all matters pertaining to religion. There 
is no middle ground between Papacy and this position. 
The people must be left free to interpret the Word of 



24 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



God for themsel\^es, or else the clergy must do it for them. 
A domineering priesthood, or a free people, are the log- 
ical and necessary consequences growing out of these con- 
ditions. The people have not been slow to see the just- 
ness of the position of the Disciples upon this subjed: ; 
and, consequently, their cause has gained great strength 
from this source, wherever it has been faithfully pre- 
sented. Here is the secret of their popularity among the 
masses; and it is not to be wondered at, when we take 
into consideration the fad that they are the only people 
among Protestants who pra5iically strike for the freedom 
of conscience and the right of individual interpretation. 
3. I^he unity of the plea was another source of strength. 
Protestantism has always given evidence of certain de- 
cided elements of power within it. But these have been 
manifested only in particular diredions. There has been 
no regular, harmonious development, and, consequently, 
the strength of Protestantism has been unequal to the task 
of successfully meeting the influence of Rome. The 
work of Luther, Zwingle, Calvin, and Wesley did 
much toward breaking the shackles of religious despo- 
tism, and restoring the ancient order of things to the 
Church. No intelligent, consistent historian can fail to 
note this fa6l. But it is likewise true, that no candid 
historian can fail to see a great want of unity in the plea 
which they made. Some of the elements of truth, which 
they e.iminated from the mass of error which had over- 
whelmed the religious consciousness of their age, came 



INTRODUCTION. 25 



out clearly, distindly, and unmistakably on the side of 
primitive Christianity. But there were so many evi- 
dences of mixture with the corruptions of Rome, in other 
things for which they contended, that the unity of their 
cause was greatly disfigured by these uneven developments 
of truth. The strength and efficiency of their plea were 
also impaired in the exad ratio that this want of unity- 
was manifested. A chain may be very strong in certain 
parts, but, on account of some weak links, the efficiency 
of the whole may be greatly impaired, and even rendered 
useless. Precisely so is it with Protestantism. In some 
of its parts it has always been strong, beyond even the 
power of the Pope of Rome to destroy; but, taken as a 
whole, it is unfortunately weak, because of a lack of unity 
and consistency in all its parts. 

The position of the religious people whose history we 
are considering is, to accept all the strong points of Prot- 
estantism, as it has gradually developed since the days of 
WicKLiFFE, and to rejed:, or else fully restore to the chain 
of truth, all the links, unimpaired, which Protestantism 
has made weak by admixtures with error.* And, if it be 
asked how far this has been accomplished, let the present 
condition of Protestantism be compared with what it was 
fifty years ago. We think that no intelligent student of 
passing, events can fail to see that the reformatory move- 
ment conduced by Alexander Campbell and his asso- 

* Fide Address before the A. C. Missionary Society by W. T. Moore. 



26 THE LIVING PUi^PIT. 



ciates has exerted an immense amount of influence upon 
the religious condition of the present age. Every-where 
we see evidences of a departure from the old stereotyped 
formularies of faith, while a more earnest inquiry after 
the principles advocated by the Disciples is unmistakably 
manifest. The tendencies of the religious movements of 
the present day are all in the direction of the position the 
Disciples occupy, and we verily believe that the day is not 
far distant when this position will be accepted as the only 
ground upon which all the people of God. can be united. 

We come now to consider the method employed in 
presenting this plea to the world as another reason of its 
success. Method is always secondary only to matter, and 
it is difficult to overestimate its value in any great work. 
Success often depends on the method employed. There 
is strategy in work as well as in war, and he who ignores 
this fad:, in the management of any great enterprise, will 
soon find that he has made a sad mistake. Logic is un- 
yielding in its demands for legitimate consequences, hence 
a proper method ought to enter into all our plans of life. 

The method employed by the Disciples in advocating 
their plea for reformation was in perfect harmony with the . 
plea itself. As truth was the only objedt desired, that 
method which would best eliminate truth was employed. 
Hence the popular methods of investigation, which went 
to the Bible only for proofs to establish some favorite 
theory or preconceived opinion, were discarded as alto- 
gether unworthy honest inquiry, while the Bible was stud- 



INTRODUCTION. 27 



led with the view only to understand the Divine will. 
Every example and precept, relating to any subje6i: re- 
quiring investigation, was carefully and prayerfully exam- 
ined, and when a satisfactory indudion was made, the re- 
sult was reverently accepted as the truth in the matter. 

They did not go to the Bible to find out if the Bible 
said what they said, but they went to the Bible to ascer- 
tain if they said what the Bible said. And this was not de- 
termined by a few isolated passages, torn away from their 
proper context and forced into an unwilling service, but 
by a careful indudion of all the passages^ in their true 
contextual meaning, on the subjed: to be decided. Such 
was the method employed in writing and preaching, and 
it never failed to command the public attention. There 
was something so simple, honest, and reasonable about 
it, that the "wayfaring man, though a simpleton, need 
not err therein." For many years the preachers were, 
for the most part, plain, uneducated men; but they un- 
derstood the Word of God, and knew how to make others 
understand it. This constituted them a tower of strength, 
and, wherever they went, under the influence of their 
preaching, hundreds and thousands became obedient to 
the Gospel. And thus the work went glorioxisly on, 
until it has reached its present magnificent proportions. 
The movement has now passed its formative state, and is 
rapidly developing the conditions of permanent success. 
Under the fostering care of the Disciples, schools and col- 
leges are going up all over the land, while the churches are 



28 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



supplying themselves v/ith educated pastors to break to 
the people the bread of life. Every thing indicates an 
advance toward a thorough and complete organization. 
When this point is once fully reached, we trust that the 
days of sedarianism will be numbered. 

We have now noticed two periods in the history of the 
Disciples, viz.: the Period of Formation and the Period of 
Organization and Development. One of these is past; they 
are at present in the midst of the other, having already 
taken some very decided progressive steps. Hence any 
selection of men designed to represent the preaching char- 
afteristics of this people should be made from both of 
these periods. That is precisely what is aimed at in this 
book. It will be seen that there are several names that 
represent the first period — the cause when it was in its 
formative state — while several young men represent it as 
it now is — in its state of organization and development. 
In judging of the discourses which are to follow, this dis- 
tindion between the two classes of writers must be con- 
stantly kept in view. Several of the men who have writ- 
ten discourses for this volume never wrote a discourse 
before in their lives. They belong to that period of the 
Reformation that did not allow the preparation necessary 
to the production of written discourses. They had no 
time to devote to the study of rhetoric or elocution. 
They had work to do — work which required all their 
time and energies. Hence they stood not on the order 
of speaking, but s^poke. Wherever they had opportunity. 



INTRODUCTION. 29 



they sounded out the Gospel to a lost and ruined world. 
In fad, these were just the men that were needed then. 
Polished rhetoricians would have failed. The age and 
work demanded angular men — men of strong, vigorous 
intelleds, indomitable wills, and brave, earnest hearts. 
From such men we do not exped: the graces of compo- 
sition, but, what is better, the grace of honest truth and 
good sense. We do not make these remarks for the 
purpose of apologizing for any of the discourses that 
appear in this volume — for we do not think any of them 
needs an apology — but simply in justice to the men them- 
selves, because many of them have not been accustomed 
to write any thing, and much less discourses for the pul- 
pit. In fad, writing discourses for the pulpit is not the 
habit of the preachers of the Christian Church, and hence 
it may be said of all the men who appear in the book, 
that they have gone somewhat outside of their regular 
work. They are all extemporaneous speakers, and rely 
almost exclusively on this method in their pulpit minis- 
trations. Consequently their discourses will be found 
to differ, in both matter and manner, from the standard 
authors of sermons. But we do not think they suffer 
any on this account. One of the reasons why the Prot- 
estant churches are to-day so far away from the primitive 
models is, that their ministers persist in a style of preach- 
ing which must, in the very nature of things, lead to er- 
roneous views in reference to the teaching of the Scrip- 
tures. They are too much in the habit of following the 



30 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



little by-paths in the domain of Truth, rather than the' 
great thoroughfares that lead on to the Beautiful City. If 
they should find themselves lost sometimes, while wan- 
dering in these obscure windings, it need not be a matter 
of surprise to any one. Forbidden ground is just as dan- 
gerous as forbidden fruit. 

The discourses which appear in this volume, will com- 
mend themselves in the following particulars : 

I. They are pregnant with evangelical truth. There 
is no mistaking the source whence the material is vlrawn. 
Every sentence is luminous with light from the Word 
of God. 

II. They are remarkable for simplicity of style. There 
is no effort at fine writing — no overstrained metaphors. 
Many of the discourses are exceedingly fine specimens 
of pure Anglo-Saxon, containing comparatively very few 
derived words. 

III. They are equally remarkable for perspicuity. The 
meaning is never in doubt. You may not agree with the 
writers, but you can not fail to understand them. 

IV. The ability displayed in these discourses is cer- 
tainly very considerable. While they are not to be com- 
pared in may respects with the standard sermons in the 
various languages — for, as already remarked, they are not 
written after the same models — still we think that in point 
of intelledual force, many of them will compare favorably 
with the best discourses in any language. 



INTRODUCTION. 3 1 

V. They bear unmistakable evidence that their authors 
are conscientious, earnest men. Whatever difference of 
opinion there may be concerning the dod:rine promulged 
in these discourses, there can be no doubt about the sin- 
cerity of the men who wrote them. Every conclusion is 
clearly the result of honest convictions. 

But, after all, the historical y2\\x^ of these discourses is 
as great as any other. The Disciples are just now pass- 
ing through a transition state, and it will be interesting, 
in after years, to look over' the great speeches of some 
of the representative men of this period. This volume 
will afford such an opportunity, and should, therefore, 
be highly prized, not only because of its present value, 
but because it will be a rich legacy for all time. 

W. T. M. 

CiNCiNXATi, October, 1867. 



THE LIVING PULPIT OF THE 
CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 



DAVID STAATS BURNET. 

[While preparing for this volume a short notice of the life of this dis- 
tinguished brother, we received the sad intelligence of his death. His 
discourse was already partially in type, and the engraving nearly ready. 
Under these circumstances, it was thought best to retain him in the book, 
although the original intention was to have no one appear in it but living 
preachers. 

The lesson which this sad event teaches is one of solemn warning. 
While preparing a book, in which none but the living were to occupy 
a place, one of those selected is suddenly numbered among the dead. 
Truly, in the midst of life we are in death. 

In consultation with the publishers, it was decided to give a more gen- 
eral notice of the deceased than was at first intended. It was believed 
this would be just and proper, and highly appreciated. In accordance 
with this decision, we have collected what material we could, in the short 
time allowed, from which to write a biographical sketch, and present the 
following as the result of our labors.] 

DAVID STAATS BURNET was the eldest child 
of Isaac G. and Mrs. K. W. Burnet, and was 
born in Dayton, Ohio, July 6, 1808. His ancestors, on 
both sides, were Scotch, and of very respedlable chara6ler. 
His maternal grandfather was Capt. George Gordon, a 
native of Philadelphia. His paternal grandfather was 
Dr. William Burnet, of Newark, N. J., a member of 
3 (33) 



34 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the Congress of 1775. He claimed lineal descent from 
Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, so conspicuous 
during the great English Revolution, under William, 
Prince of Orange. 

When he was eight years of age his parents removed 
to Cincinnati, his father having formed a law partnership 
with the late Nicholas Longworth. Subsequently the 
father served twelve years as mayor, employing the son 
as clerk, when at the age of thirteen. While in this em- 
ployment, under the watchful care of his father, young 
David acquired those habits of industry and faithfulness 
which charaderized him through life, and which laid the 
foundation of his future career. 

He was educated in the Presbyterian faith, and was 
sprinkled, in accordance with the custom of that sed, 
about the time he entered his father's office as clerk. But 
his mind had already begun to investigate; and owing to 
the interest which he subsequently took in the cause of 
Sunday schools — having at the age of sixteen become as- 
sociated with a Presbyterian official in conducing a very 
successful one — he was led to a close examination of the 
Word of God. This examination convinced him that 
some of his religious positions were wrong, and could not 
be reconciled with the Divine teaching. After prayerful 
consideration, he determined to change his religious con- 
nexions, as his views had undergone a radical change, 
especially on the subjed of human creeds and the ordi- 
nance of baptism. Accordingly, on the 26th of Decem- 
ber, 1824, he was immersed by the Rev. John Bo^i d, and 
received into the Enon Baptist Church. 

It is worthy of remark that, at this time, he was unac- 
quainted with the teaching of Alexander Campbell and 
those associated with him in pleading for a return to 
primitive Christianity; and yet, he rejecfled the authority 



DAVID STAATS BURNET. 2S 



of human creeds, and declined to accept any test of faith 
but the Word of God, basing his application for baptism 
on Rom. x: 6-10, not knowing that any one else had 
done so before. On this account, it was with some hesi- 
tation that he was received by the Baptists, his views be- 
ing, in many respects, at variance with their established 
usage. 

Immediately after his baptism he commenced preach- 
ing in the name of the Lord, notwithstanding, at that 
early age, he was offered admission to the West Point 
Military Academy by his uncle, the late Judge Jacob 
Burnet. 

His life at this time becomes an interesting study, and 
the moral sublimity of his charader challenges our unaf- 
feded admiration. Surrounded by a large circle of influ- 
ential relatives and friends, who, if religious at all, had 
little or no sympathy with his views of Christianity; with 
wealth and worldly honors offered him without stint, he 
turned his back upon them all, and, like the great Law- 
giver of Israel, chose rather to suffer afflidlion with the 
people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a 
season ; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches 
than all the treasures and honors of the world. It is 
only now and then that a young man, under such circum- 
stances, deliberately sele6ls the profession of an humble 
preacher of the Gospel. And when one does have the 
moral courage, by the help of God, to do it, his name 
should be held in everlasting remembrance among those 
who "contend for the faith once delivered to the saints." 

Although little more than sixteen when he began to 
preach, such were his piety and earnestness, and such his 
devotion to study, that he made very rapid growth in his 
profession; so rapid, indeed, that at the age of twenty he 
was called to the pastoral care of a church in Dayton, O., 



36 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



and was held in great esteem as an earnest, faithful, and 
eloquent preacher of the Gospel. 

In the autumn or winter of 1827, the youthful preacher 
united with Elder William Montague, of Kentucky, in 
the organization of the Sycamore-street Baptist Church 
of Cincinnati. This church numbered about eighty mem- 
bers at the time of its organization, and adopted a plat- 
form of principles much more liberal and progressive 
than those usually adopted by the Baptist churches at 
that time. But the principles of the Reformation, as ad- 
vocated by Alexander Campbell, Walter Scott, and 
others, now became very generally known, and their influ- 
ence upon the Baptist churches throughout the West was 
very great, in some places completely absorbing whole dis- 
^ trid:s, and enlisting a very earnest interest in favor of the 
plea for a return to Primitive Christianity. The Syca- 
more-street Church was not free from this influence, and 
it was not long until a division took place, the two por- 
tions forming different congregations, and finally grow- 
ing into the present Ninth-street Baptist Church, and the 
Christian Church, corner of Eighth and Walnut streets. 
Brother Burnet adhered to the latter-named organiza- 
tion, and from that time until the day of his death was 
thoroughly identified with the movement, and a zealous 
defender of the principles and pradices, as advocated by 
the Disciples of Christ. 

And here again we find him yielding to his honest con- 
victions in opposition to every worldly interest. It is 
difficult to conceive of a more self-sacrificing adl than that 
which breaks away from wealth, position, fame, friends, 
relatives, and last, though not least, religious associa- 
tions, and unites present hopes and an eternal destiny 
with a movement which promises nothing in this life but 
ignominy and shame, and, in the popular estimation. 



DAVID STAATS BURNET. 37 



nothing in the life to come but everlasting ruin. Only 
honest and earnest convidions could induce any sane man 
to enter upon such an unpromising adventure. And yet 
this is just what the subjed of this sketch did. The 
people with whom he associated himself religiously were, 
a* that time, held in very low esteem by the different re- 
ligious parties into which the Protestant world was di- 
vided. Nor could it be expeded otherwise. The plea 
which they made struck at the very foundation of all the 
existing religious se6ls; hence it is reasonable enough to 
suppose the sects would bitterly denounce a movement 
which had for its objed their complete destrudion. This 
very attitude of the Reformation arrayed all the hosts of 
sedarianism against it. The contest was a fearful one, 
and the odds against the little Spartan band who plead 
for a return to apostolic Christianity were truly appall- 
ing. But truth is mighty and will prevail; and our 
brother lived long enough to see his brethren, who were 
so heartily despised at first, rise to be one of the most 
powerful and influential religious people in all the land. 
And to reach this success, no one labored more steadily 
and earnestly than he himself, sacrificing ease and com- 
fort, traveling at times from one end of the country to 
the other, working by day and by night, preaching the 
Gospel, organizin ; churches, writing for the papers, edit- 
ing books, teaching school, in fad, doing any thing that 
was necessary toward pushing on the cause which lay so 
near his heart. 

On the thirtieth day of March, 1830, he was married 
to Miss Mary G. Gang, youngest daughter of Major- 
general John S. Gang. She had been immersed in 1827 
by Rev. Jeremiah Vardeman ; and it is due to her to 
say here that she always faithfully co-operated with her 
husband in all his efforts to spread the Gospel of the grace 



J 8 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



of God. In 1 833, he entered adively upon the work of an 
evangelist. He made an extensive and successful preach- 
ing tour through the Eastern States, passing through Vir- 
ginia, then further north to the seaboard cities. The 
result of his labors in the cities visited was highly satis- 
fadory. Great good was accomplished in stirring up the 
Disciples to a more aftive zeal, while a very general inter- 
est was created in favor of the Primitive Gospel. Many 
of the churches that now exist in those localities are the 
results of good seed sown during this tour. 

On returning home he commenced his career as editor 
and publisher. From 1834 to 1840, he published the 
"Christian Preacher,*' a monthly magazine, containing 
choice discourses and essays on the great themes connefted 
with man's redemption. This exerted a good influence, 
and had considerable circulation. In 1846, he published 
"The Christian Family Magazine;" then the "Christian 
Age," for several years. At another time he published 
simultaneously "The Reformer," "The Monthly Age," 
and "The Sunday-school Journal." He also edited the 
"Sunday-school Library," of fifty-six volumes, and an 
edition of the "Christian Baptist," in one volume. In 
all these publications he showed considerable ability, 
though his powers as a writer were not equal to his speak- 
ing talent. His home was in the pulpit, and he was never 
so able in any other department of labor. 

As an educator he had considerable experience; and al- 
though he may not have excelled in this profession, his 
career was highly creditable to him. For two years he was 
President of Bacon College, Georgetown, Ky., and after- 
ward Principal and Proprietor of Hygeia Female Athe- 
.neum, situated on the heights, seven miles back of Cin- 
cinnati. In both of these places he gave evidence of good 
executive talent and respedable ability as a teacher; but it 



DAVID STAATS BURNET. 3^ 



was not the work he most desired ; consequently, in 1844, 
he resumed the pastoral charge of the church on Syca- 
more street, Cincinnati, and subsequently at the corner of 
Eighth and Walnut streets, serving in all sixteen years. 

His ministry in Cincinnati was attended with a steady and 
permanent success. He never produced any very marked 
impression on the city, but kept the church in a growing 
condition, receiving always the confidence of his brethren, 
and the respedl and esteem of all who knew him. While 
occupying this position, he devoted himself closely to 
study, taking a very general eourse of reading, especially 
in some of the departments of ancient and modern his- 
tory. Here also he became acquainted with pastoral 
work, a department of labor not very well understood at 
that time by preachers of the Christian Church. Owing 
to the small number of preachers, it was impossible to 
supply many of the churches with regular pastors. The 
preachers had to do chiefly evangelical work, and, conse- 
quently, had little or no experience in developing the 
resources of a single church. Brother Burnet saw that 
pastoral labor must be done in the churches, and espe- 
cially the city churches, before they could ever reach 
that spiritual growth which would enable them to exert a 
proper influence on the world. Holding these views, he 
labored not only for an increase of the ministry, but for 
such a ministry as would be able to build up the churches 
as well as convert the world. He did not measure power 
by man}\ but by much. Numbers in a church are well 
enough, but strength is not always in numbers. Disci- 
pline, long and patient discipline, is necessary to develop 
real power^ and this can not be had without a thorough 
organization, and some one to take the oversight, who 
feels the responsibility of watching for the souls of the 
people. He did not argue that the pastoral oflice is a 



40 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



distind office from the eldership, but that it is a part of 
the work of the eldership. But as the elders seleded by 
the churches are generally not competent, or else will 
not perform this work, such men should be provided 
as conscientiously feel it to be their duty to " feed the 
flock of God." This course would alone give such pros- 
perity to the churches as would make them the " pillar 
and support of the truth." 

In 1857 he was called to the pastoral care of the church 
on Seventeenth street, in the city of New York. At the 
conclusion of one year's labor he resigned, and spent the 
following year along the seaboard from New York to 
Texas. The next year was spent in Missouri and Kan- 
sas, where his labors were greatly blessed, several hundred 
additions being made to the churches. It was during 
this tour that he conduced one of the most remarkable 
meetings of his life, at Paris, Missouri. For several 
weeks the interest was so great that all the merchants 
in the place, by common consent, closed their business 
houses every day at ten o'clock, to enable them to at- 
tend church. It is said by those who heard him, that 
his power in the pulpit during this meeting was truly 
marvelous. 

When he returned from this tour, he again took charge 
of the church corner of Eighth and Walnut streets, Cin- 
cinnati, but in the fall of i860, at the earnest solicitation 
of many brethren, he was induced to resign and take the 
corresponding secretaryship of the American Christian 
Missionary Society. This placed him again adlively in 
the general field, and gave him additional opportunities 
for extending his travels and his already large acquaint- 
ance among the brethren. But our civil war beginning 
in 1 861, and the resources of the Society being largely 
cut off, he gave up the secretaryship, removed to Balti- 



DAVID STAATb BURNET. 41 



more, Maryland, and became pastor of the church in that 
city. There he remained until his death, which took 
place on the 8th of July, 1867, being just fifty-nine years 
and two days old. 

His last hours were in accordance with his whole life, 
full of faith and hope. His sickness, in its aggravated 
form, was of short duration. He had not been well for 
some time, but no one considered him seriously ill. He 
had just resigned his pastoral charge at Baltimore, and 
was about to remove to Louisville, Kentucky, where he 
had been called to the pastorafe of the church on the cor- 
ner of Walnut and Fourth streets. He preached his 
farewell sermon to the church which he had so faithfully 
served, on Lord's day, June the 30th, and the labors of 
that day apparently developed the germs of the disease 
of which he died. On the day following, he sought in 
quietness to relieve himself of his distress, but without 
success. On Tuesday morning, although quite feeble, 
and severely suffering, he insisted on meeting an engage- 
ment to administer the ordinance of baptism to two per- 
sons who had made the confession the previous Lord's 
day. In the performance of this act he had to be sup- 
ported to and from the church. On Wednesday he was 
too ill to rise, and was at once placed under rigorous 
medical treatment; but the most skillful and. unremit- 
ting attention was unavailing. The work of death from 
this time proceeded, and on Monday morning, at eleven 
and a half o'clock, was accomplished 

It is a pleasant refledion to his friends to know that 
during his entire illness his intelled was unclouded and 
his faith undimmed. The evening before he died, he 
said to those at his bedside : '* Brethren, my faith is 
strong in God; I die in the faith of the Gospel, and 
have no fears." Next morning, just before death, he 



42 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



said: "My path is clear before me, and I have nothing 
against any one/' Many of his last moments were spent 
in repeating the Psalms, especially the twenty-third, al- 
ternately in Hebrew and English. 

On the Wednesday following his death, a large con- 
course of the brethren and friends assembled at the Chris- 
tian Church in Baltimore, to pay their last respeds to the 
honored dead. An appropriate discourse was preached 
by Brother A. N. Gilbert, of Syracuse, N. Y. His re- 
mains, in charge of his brother Jacob Burnet, Esq., and 
two brethren appointed by the Baltimore church, were 
then taken to Cincinnati, where, on Friday afternoon, his 
funeral took place, from the church corner of Eighth and 
Walnut streets. An eloquent funeral discourse was de- 
livered by Isaac Errett, of Cleveland, Ohio, a valued 
friend of the deceased, and, for many years, a co-laborer 
in the Gospel, after which the remains were followed by 
a large number of relatives and personal friends to Spring 
Grove Cemetery, where they were interred in the famijy 
burying-ground. 

Thus ended the earthly career of a noble hero of the 
Cross. His life had been glorious, and his death was tri- 
umphant. He rests from his labors, and his works do 
follow him. In deep sorrow, though not as those who 
have no hope, we adopt the sentiment of the poet : 

"Fallen — on Zion's battle-field, 

A soldier of renown. 
Armed in the panoply of God, 

In conflict cloven down ! 
His helmet on, his armor bright. 

His cheek unblanched with fear — 
While round his head there gleamed a light. 

His dying hour to cheer. 



DAVID STAATS BURNET. 43 



"Fallen — while cheering with his voice 

The sacramental host. 
With banners floating in the air — 

Death found him at his post. 
In life's high prime the warfare closed. 

But not ingloriously ; 
He fell beyond the outer wall. 

And shouted. Victory 1 

"Fallen — a holy man of God, 

An Israelite indeed, 
A standard-bearer of the cross. 

Mighty in word and deed — 
A master-spirit of the age, 

A bright and burning light. 
Whose beams across the firmament 

Scattered the clouds of night. 

"Fallen — as sets the sun at eve. 

To rise in splendor, where 
His kindred luminaries shine. 

Their heaven of bliss to share. 
Beyond the stormy battle-field 

He reigns in triumph now. 
Sweeping a harp of wondrous song. 

With glory on his brow !" 

Brother Burnet was in stature somewhat below the me- 
dium height; but his presence was so commanding as to 
impress upon the observer that he was no ordinary man. 
He had a healthy physical organization, susceptible of 
great endurance, and a large well-balanced brain; and this 
accounts for the immense amount of physical and intel- 
ledlual labor he was able to accomplish, his whole life be- 
ing characterized by great adivity and energy. 

His manners were somewhat formal and stiff, arising, 
doubtless, from a too sensitive nature, which instinctively 
shrank from familiar contad with any but the most inti- 



44 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



mate friends. He was always, however, deferential and 
courteous to even the humblest individual, but his natu- 
ral reserve sometimes subjected him to the charge of ex- 
clusiveness. Nevertheless, he was one of the most social 
and agreeable of men, but his sociability was not of that 
free, outspoken kind which disarms criticism and makes 
every one feel perfedly at home. It was none the less 
genuine, however, on this account. 

As a scholar, he had respedable attainments, having 
made considerable progress in the study of the languages, 
especially Hebrew and Greek. He was also very fond 
of the sciences, and was quite familiar with natural his- 
tory. 

As a speaker, he was more of an elocutionist than a 
rhetorician. His declamation was easy and graceful, his 
voice rich and melodious, and his power to control an 
audience, when fully aroused, unsurpassed by any preacher 
in the ranks of the Disciples. But, like all great orators, 
he was not always equal to himself. It required a suita- 
ble occasion to bring him out in his full strength. It is 
said by those familiar with his preaching, that he never 
was so powerful as when conducing a successful pro- 
traded meeting. At such a time he seemed to be in- 
spired, and spoke as if his lips had been touched with a 
Divine eloquence. His ability as a writer, however, was 
not so great. His style was too diffuse, and was not al- 
ways free from rhetorical blemishes, especially in the use 
of metaphors. 

He had fine executive talent, and always made his suc- 
cesses permanent. He never lost any ground. If he did 
not always go forward, he never went backward. He did 
not stop in the formative state of a work, but carried it 
forward to organization. In fad, he was distinguished as 
an organizer; and the present system of societies among 



DAVID STAATS BURNET. 45 



the Disciples owes its origin to his efforts more than to 
those of any other man. In a letter to the editor of this 
work, dated Baltimore, February 28, 1867, he says: "I 
consider the inauguration of our Society system, which J 
vowed to urge upon the brethren, if God raised me from 
my protraded illness of 1845, as one of the most impor- 
tant ads of my career.'' He was President of the Bible 
and Missionary Societies while they co-existed, and was, 
at the time of his death, President of the General Mis- 
sionary Society, having been eleded to fill the vacancy 
occasioned by the death of the venerable and lamented 
Alexander Campbell. 

He was also a growing man. He never ceased to 
devote himself to constant and laborious study. He 
felt it to be his religious duty to make every sermon he 
preached better than any he had ever before preached. 
Hence he did not belong to that class of preachers, who, 
after preaching a few stereotyped discourses, have nothing 
more to say. His mind was fertile in resources, and his 
industry equal to the severest demands of his profession. 
As he grew in years, he grew also in power, so that his 
last years were the years of his greatest usefulness. His 
success in Baltimore, though made at an advanced age, was 
by far the most decided of his whole life. The church 
there was in a very low condition when he took charge of 
it, and owing to the civil war which was then raging, he 
found many difficulties in the way of any permanent prog- 
ress. Nevertheless, he continued to work on, trusting in 
God that good results would come by and by. These re- 
sults did come; for, during the last year of his ministry, 
the most gratifying success attended his preaching of the 
Gospel. Large numbers were added to the church, while 
the older members were built up in their most holy faith. 
Never was the cause more firmly established in the city 



46 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



of Baltimore, and never were the prospeds more flatter- 
ing than on the last days of his ministry there. 

While it is a source of great regret that he was cut off 
in the midst of so much usefulness, it affords no little 
satisfadlion to refled that a life, so full of self-denial and 
labor, closed at last in the midst of such triumphant 
success. 



THE GOOD CONFESSION. 



BY D. S. BURNET. 



"Jesus Christ witnessed a good confession." — i Tim. vi : 13. 

THE Good Confession, more than any other pecu- 
liarity, distinguishes the people who choose to be 
called Christians or Disciples of Christ. What the text 
calls the good confession is exacted of every candidate 
for baptism, and upon it, rather than any other consider- 
ation apart from his hearty faith in it, the party is ad- 
mitted to that holy institution. Confident of the cored:- 
ness of the pradice, beloved, I ask your attention to some 
suggestions in regard to its import, its scripturality, its 
uses, and its abuses. 

The reasons of the course now proposed are simply 
these : Surrounded by a multitude of religious denomi- 
nations, within the last forty-five years a community has 
grown from zero to a half million, without a denomina- 
tional aspedl, and stands to-day unmarked by a human 
formula. It is founded upon the good confession that 
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. 

The world has a right to know whether this is a scrip- 
tural method of constituting the Church, and what are its 
pradical workings in society. What the world demands, 
we as a people fully concede. As far as this address can 

(47) 



48 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



answer the demand, it is my purpose to show that the 
Primitive Church had no other do6lrinal foundation ; 
that the convert had no other claim upon baptism; and 
that the recent recovery from the apostolic ages of this 
formula has justified the terms, '^ Reformation of the 
Nineteenth Century." 

What is the Good Confession ? The textias part of a 
valuable passage, which in the authorized version reads, 
" Thou hast professed a good profession, before many 
witnesses. I give thee in charge in the sight of God who 
quickeneth all things, and before Jesus Christ, who be- 
fore Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession," etc. 
The Greek words represented by "a good profession" 
in the 12th, and "a good confession" in the 13th verses, 
are the same — ttjv Kal-qv bfioXojtav — and therefore should 
be rendered by the same words in both cases. It should 
be confession in both verses, for the verb bfioXoyio)^ of the 
context, means to confess. It is defined, "to speak one 
language ; to say together ; to hold the same language ; 
to agree with another; confess; to be connected with one; 
to come to terms of surrender." Out of twenty-two 
occurrences in the New Testament, it is never translated 
"profess" but twice; and one of those cases is in the text. 
We will, therefore, translate the passage thus : " Thou 
hast confessed the good confession before many witnesses. 
I charge thee in the sight of God, who makes all things 
alive, and Jesus Christ, who, in the time of Pontius Pi- 
late, witnessed the good confession, keep this command- 
ment." In the prosecution of our inquiries, it will be 
necessary to recur to this translation. It will be noticed 
that the article in the Greek requires the amended ver- 
sion to read ^Uhe good confession." There is the width 
of the seas between a and the in this connexion. Doubt- 



D. S. BURNET. 49 



less Timothy often confessed a good confession, but al- 
lusion is made here to one particular and peculiar confes- 
sion, which the apostle designates, par excellence^ the Good 
Confession — a- formula pronounced once, and but once, 
in his lifetime, as a religious ad. 

Both Jesus and Timothy made this confession. In 
what, then, did it consist? In reply, it is affirmed: 

I. That the good confession is the historical and logi- 
cal asped of the Gospel. 

The Apostle John sums up his memoirs of Christ in 
these remarkable words : ''These are written that ye might 
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God."* It 
would be safe to suppose that Matthew, Mark, and Luke 
wrote their several works for the same purpose. It is in- 
evitable, then, that the only recognized account of Jesus, 
embracing half the New Testament, is a historical and log- 
ical defense of the Messiahship and Lordship, the mission 
and the Divinity, of Jesus of Nazareth; in other words, 
that those books elaborate and defend the proposition 
which has been called the Good Confession. As they con- 
tain the matter-of-fact grounds on which Christ must be 
obeyed, they have for ages been called tjie Four Gospels. 

In the record of that most touching interview between 
Jesus and the sisters of Lazarus, which has been the leg- 
acy of the children of sorrow for near two thousand years, 
Martha but represents the expeftations of the pious Isra- 
elites, when she declares, " I believe thou art the Christ, 
the Son of God, which should come into the worlds The 
coming one was to be, they thought, both Messiah and 
Son. They supposed the new kingdom would be inau- 
gurated by the resurredion of many of the prophets, the 

*John xx: 31. 



50 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



reappearance of Moses and Elijah, and that the Messiah, 
who had often appeared to the nation as its deliverer, 
would reign in unexampled splendor.* 

But the instrument of salvation, called the Gospel was 
committed to the apostles to be preached and adminis- 
tered to people of all nations. The A5is of Apostles is the 
only inspired record of their preaching. It fully sustains 
the proposition that the words of this Confession are the 
staple of the Gosple. These heaven-qualified and com- 
missioned preachers either ignored all other issues or 
used them in subservience to the elaboration and enforce- 
ment of this Confession. To a careful reader, nothing 
will be more apparent than that the whole purpose of the 
apostolic ministry was to argue and enforce the claims of 
Jesus upon the faith, reverence, and heartfelt obedience 
of all classes of persons, as the heaven-provided Savior 
of a lost race. They drove this one point to the con- 
viction and submission of all but the incorrigible. They 
had nothing to do with dodrines. They preached a per- 
son, Jesus, made of a woman, as human as his mother, and 
having been declared to be the Son of God with power, as 
divine as his Father. Every discourse tended to this con- 
vidlion, whether addressed to saint or sinner. The reign 
of grace opened among men by the triumphant carrying 
of this point under the formula ''Let all the house of 
Israel know assuredly that God hath made Jesus whom 
ye crucified, both Lord and Christ;" and it was "when 
they heard this, they were pierced to the heart;" and 
that day three thousands of them surrendered to the con- 
quering Crucified, by being baptized in his name.f By a 

*See Kinnoel, LIghtfoot, Schoetgen, Bloomfield, Townsend, etc. 
f Acts II : 36, 37. 



D. S. BURNET. 



similar argument the same inspired apostle opened the 
door of faith to the Gentile world.* Philip, in Samaria, 
*' preached Christ unto them."f 

It is but necessary now to examine the method of 
preaching adopted by the remaining great a6lor of this 
book of primitive church history, Paul the apostle. 
Here we are happily relieved from all darkness or doubt 
in regard to the didadic course of this most renowned 
champion of the Cross. "Paul, as his manner was, went 
in unto them, and three Sabbath-days reasoned with 
them out of the Scriptures, explaining and alleging that 
the Christ must needs have suffered and risen from the 
dead, and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you is the 
Christ." J Enough has been said to demonstrate our 
point, that there was no gospel, and it may be added, 
there is no gospel, which is not founded on this primi- 
tive formula.§ 

The moral rather than the logical side of the Gospel, 
the love of God to the world, the sympathy of angels, 
and the persuasion of the Holy Spirit, not to mention 
objedionable forms of expression, have been unwisely 
permitted to usurp pulpit and popular attention, while 
the apostolic method of presentation, including the moral 
and logical, has been ignored. 

11. The Good Confession, that Jesus is the Christ, the 
Son of God, is the creed and foundation of the Primitive 
Church. 

The Jews never had an uninspired creed. The Bible 
was their only divine book. Israelites and Samaritans 

*Acts x: 34, 43. fActs viii: 5. J Acts xvii: 2, 3. 

§ The celebrated metaphysician and Christian, John Locke, wrote a 
volume to prove this first proposition of this discourse. It is long since 
out of print. 



52 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



had the same Pentateuch. Pharisees and Sadducees wor- 
shiped in the same Synagogue. God never contemplated 
any substitute for his Word. It alone is to enlighten, 
govern, and save. The legacy of the apostle to the 
Ephesian elders was this sacred treasure : " I commend 
you to God and to the Word of his grace, which is able 
to build you up and to give you an inheritance among 
them which are sandified." * Thus Jesus adopts the Good 
Confession as the rock of his kingdom.^ 

The church was not yet in existence, but it was to be 
ere6led upon this foundation when built. " Thus saith 
Jehovah God, Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation a 
stone, a tried stone, a precious corner, a sure foundation; 
he that believeth shall not make haste." J This was the 
basis of faith. In Corinth Paul laid the same founda- 
tion: "I have laid the foundation." "Other foundation 
can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ;" § 
that is, Jesus Christ doctrinal — Jesus Christ in this for- 
mula, with its accompanying proofs, illustrations, and 
enforcements. Until some one shall arise — no one has 
yet done so — and show that God ever authorized a re- 
ligious society, Jewish or Christian, to be founded upon 
an uninspired document, it will be taken for granted that 
Jesus meant what he said in these utterances, and that 
the Good Confession, as defined in the conversation be- 
tween Jesus and his disciples, is the dodrinal foundation 
of the Church, as it is of the individual faith of each of 
its members. It may be objeded that the whole New 
Testament is considered the rock of the Church. Truly, 

*Acts xx: 32. 

fMatt. xvi: 16-18. By the laws of language, the rock is the confes- 
sion which Peter had just made. So wrote Chrysostom. 
J Isaiah xxviii : 16. §l Cor. iii: 10, 11. 



D. S. BljRNET. S3 



it is the Divine dire6lory of the Church. The Ten Com- 
mandments were the constitution of the Jews, or the old 
covenant, the bulwark of the unity of God against Poly- 
theism. The Good Confession sustains the same relation 
to the Christian Church. It is the new covenant and the 
development of divine society in God — the Father, Son, 
and Spirit. The Confession was laid as a foundation in 
Zion by the Father (Isaiah xxviii: i6), and Jesus built 
the Church upon it throughout the Roman empire before 
the New Testament was written and compiled. 

There is a religion of the New Testament as well de- 
fined as the religion of the Athanasian or Augsburg Con- 
fessions, or the miscalled Apostles' Creed, and perfedly 
distind from either of them. The New Testament com- 
prises the ''church standards" of Christianity. In tak- 
ing the Bible we accept all truth — in taking the Bible 
alone, we rejedl all error. 

III. The Good Confession is Divine. 

There is a sense in which all the Bible is Divine — it is 
inspired. But it is not intended in this statement to say 
that the Good Confession is inspired. The words of all 
the sacred writers are inspired, by whomsoever spoken — 
saint, sinner, angel, or demon ; that is, God had them 
written. But it is claimed for this Confession that God 
made it, that it is the foundation which be laid in Zion. 
He gave these words to no prophet, angel, or apostle to 
announce. He charged the atmosphere with them him- 
self. ''Blessed art thou, Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh 
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father 
which is in heaven."* 

Though there is some disputation as to the time when 

* Matt, xvi: 17. 



J4 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the Father made this revelation to Peter, the record 
seems to point to the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan as 
the occasion. God made the revelation, and when others 
were appalled by the disproportion between the common 
appearance and lofty claims of Jesus, Peter remembered 
and rightly interpreted it. For this his Master gave him 
the blessing. Heaven grant that it may be a revelation 
and a blessing to us all ! John the Baptist's testimony 
sustains this view. "I knew him not; but that he should 
be made manifest to Israel, therefore I am come baptiz- 
ing in water."* By saying, further, that God had told 
him that upon whom he should see the Spirit descend- 
ing and remaining, ''the same is he that baptizeth in the 
Holy Spirit," he fully identifies the revelation with the 
events of the baptism. Those events themselves teach 
us the same lesson. The heavens opened while the yet 
uninaugurated Son and his harbinger were but coming 
out of the waters of the sacred river — the heavens opened 
in the face of the shining sun ! Was the miracle in the 
circumambient space, or in the eyes and ears of the be- 
holders? Stephen, by an exaltation of vision, saw Jesus 
at the right hand of God, as a man by the aid of a tele- 
scope sees volcanoes in the moon. To the spedtators the 
heavens opened, and to connedl those heavens with Jesus 
by a visible link, the dove-like Spirit, the power and the 
heart of God came down in beautiful gyrations, bearing 
the olive-branch of glory — the Messiahship. For what 
is Messiah in Hebrew, and Christ, its equivalent, in 
Greek, but anointed ? Jesus was christed by the Spirit's 
descending and remaining on him. This was in fulfill- 
ment of prophecy. '' The Spirit of the Lord God is upon 

*John i: 31. //?, in the Greek, in verses 31 and 33. 



D. S. BURNET. 55 



me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good 
tidings unto the meek/'* 

The first three Evangelists coincide in the statement 
that, following the Spirit-anointing or christing, " There 
came a voice, saying. This is my beloved Son, in whom I 
am well pleased." f This established the Sonship of the 
Confession. The two, the anointing of the Spirit and the 
avouching of the Father, embrace its two elements, mak- 
ing it divine, in the sense of done and said of God in 
person. Again, the evangelical prophet is justified by 
the evangelical annals: ^'Behold my servant whom I will 
uphold, mine eledl in whom my soul delights, I have 
put my Spirit upon him." J This accuracy of delinea- 
tion transforms the prophecy into history. We have the 
Father's words interpreted — Behold the anointed — he is 
my Son — my delight. 

God, who has many oracles — the Spirit, angels, and 
men — seldom speaks in person. He spake, and it was 
done. He gave us a world. He spoke in Eden, and 
organized a family with language and religion. After 
a silence of twenty-five centuries, he stayed his cloud- 
chariot over Horeb. The heavens lighted their fires, and 
uttered their thunders. The terrified mountains trem- 
bled like aspen leaves. He uttered his voice, the earth 
melted. He spoke " the ten words," and organized a 
sacred nation. Fifteen centuries more passed and the 
heavens open again, now over the sacred river, lying deep 
in the bosom of mother earth. The voice and Spirit of 
the Father are poured in the dove form of mercy, and the 



* Isaiah Ixi : i. Compare Luke iv: 16— 21 ; Acts x: 38. 
J Compare Matt, iii: 17; Mark i: 11, and Luke iii: 22. 
"l Isaiah xlii : I. 



56 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



utterances of afFedion — My Son — my delight. This Con- 
fession, thus completed, is in the highest sense divine. 

It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this third 
proposition. If the Good Confession is the marrow and 
fatness of the Gospel, if it is the rock chosen on which 
to found the Church, no one could obje6t to its being 
called divine. But the word divine receives a new power 
in this connexion, where the ad: of the Spirit and the 
word of the Father are proved to constitute the Confes- 
sion itself. The Church of Christ is pre-eminently a 
divine institution, and is degraded by the thought of an 
uninspired basis. The convert is not called upon to 
emasculate his reason and humble his manhood by bow- 
ing to a humanism in the vestibule of the temple of 
truth. His "faith and hope rest in God." This preach- 
ing is "in demonstration of the spirit and power, that 
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in 
the power of God."* 

There is something peculiar in the employment of 
biioXoyia as the name of the confession, and the verb b/io- 
loyeco to express confess. There are several other Greek 
words which signify confess and confession, but they do 
not have the superadded idea of repeating after another, 
or " holding the same language." In the Greek, then, 
those who confess, repeat what was first said by the 
Father concerning his Son Jesus Christ. This appears 
more obvious from the consideration that the noun biio- 
Xoyia is compounded of 6//oc, one and the same, and Ujo 
to speak, declare, recount. The confession by a penitent 
is a repeating after the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as 
did Peter, who got the blessing. Although this Confes- 

1 Cor. ii: 4, 5. 



D. S. BURNET. S7 



sion is never quoted as an authority for sponsors, yet it 
is the nearest approach to the idea of sponsors which the 
Bible contains. The Spirit visibly rests upon Jesus, and 
the aspirant for baptism cries, '^ Jesus is the Christ." 
The Father says, "Behold my Son;" the candidate re- 
sponds, "I believe Jesus is the Son of God." The He- 
brew nij, rendered confess, means, first, to pronounce, 
to utter, and, after, confess; in its very common use, 
"give thanks, praise, celebrate, glorify, i. e., name aloud, 
with the accusative of the objed."* 

In one of his controversies with the Jews, in the array 
of evidences of his mission, Jesus said, "Though I bear 
record of myself, my record is true;"-j* and the Baptist 
said, " He that hath received his testimony hath set to 
his seal that God is true." J God avouched Jesus, and 
requires that we should solemnly declare his testimony 
corred ; that we should indorse the Father's testimony 
of the Son. 

In John V, Jesus appeals to his countrymen to believe 
the testimony of the Baptist and his own daily miracles, 
triumphantly adding to these evidences, " The Father 
himself who sent me hath borne witness of me. Did you 
never hear his voice, or see his form.^* or have you for- 
gotten his declaration?" This translation of Dr. Camp- 
bell, the President of Marischal College, Edinburgh, has 
been objeded to as not being true to history. Neverthe- 
less, the weight of evidence seems to sustain it, and har- 
monizing admirably with the objed of this discourse, it 
casts a flood of light on the transa(5lion at the Jordan, 

* Fuerst's Lexicon. 

•j- John viii: 14. In v. 31, "Jesus said. If I testify of myself my tes- 
timony is not true;" /. e., in a court of justice, I alone am not a legal 
witness in my own case. +John iii : 33. 



58 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



when the visible anointing of the Spirit, and the audible 
testimony of the Father designated him of whom Moses 
in the Law and the prophets did write. The Spirit de- 
scended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him."^ The 
invisible God, who dwells in light inaccessible, has often 
assumed a form, and once became flesh, and tabernacled 
in clay for years. We beheld his glory as the glory of 
the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, 
like the fire of God in the unconsumed green and flower- 
ing shrub on Horeb. 

The Greek for confession, in ancient military language, 
was the word which designated the terms of surrender. 
There is great propriety in thus styling the words by 
which a sinner publicly concedes the vidory to the Prince 
of Peace 

IV. The Good Confession is the most liberal confes- 
sion of faith on record. 

This may be inferred from its simplicity. There is 
nothing intricate in it. It involves the great fadl of the 
Bible, the central truth of the whole revelation. Jesus is 
the Alpha and Omega of all sacred literature. It is truly 
a confession of faith, and not of opinions. In this resped 
it is unlike any symbol of any denomination. // relates 
words from the lips of Jehovah — they^ words of unin- 
spired men regarding real or fancied principles supposed 
to be, or implied, in the statements of the Bible. Man 
recoils from man clad in undue authority. It is a lesson 
taught by Jehovah: '' Cursed be the man that trusteth in 
man," (himself or another,) "and maketh flesh his arm." f 
The time will never come when the body of Christ will 
be based upon any one sedlarian symbol or creed, and be 

* Luke iii: 22. tJ^^* ^^"- 5* 



D. S. BURNET. 59 



clad in its parti-colored garment. A prayer for union in 
that diredion is a vain hope. The intercessory of Jesus 
is for those who should believe on him through the word 
of the apostles, that they all might be one.* The relig- 
ious world gives its homage to the Word of God. It is 
to be regretted that their leaders of the people will not 
permit them to renounce their creeds and unite on it. 

This formula is disentangled thus from the innumera- 
ble vexed questions of religious strife. Perhaps each one 
of us has a preference among the religious philosophies 
which have been christened after their authors, Augus- 
tine, Calvin, Arminius, etc.; but all intelligent persons 
separate them from Christianity. Holding or withhold- 
ing assent to any of them does not necessarily make 
either a good or a bad man. But to confess true faith in 
Christ materially improves the charader and advances 
the prospers of sinful men. As the confessor naturally 
takes the name of the confessed, the convert is, and he 
is called, a Christian. Illiberality has been charged upon 
the assumption of our leader's name, as though it were 
ostentatious and invidious to be named after our Master. 
If one may be called a Platonist or a Calvinist, may you 
not be named a Christian ? Does not James intimate 
that the name of Christ was called upon all disciples ?f 
When will the time come for all followers of Jesus to be 
called Christians ? Would there be any thing invidious 
in that? But one will say, ''We are all called Christians; 
it is invidious in you to appropriate the name to your- 
selves.*' We deny no one the right to confess and follow 
Christ, and to wear his name. We simply refuse to wear 
any additional name, or to hold any thing as matter of 

* John xvii: 20, 21. "("James ii : 7. See Greek. Compare Afts xi : 26, 



So THE LIVING PULPIT. 



faith, not found in the New Testament. This can not 
be illiberal ! The highest Christian liberality consists in 
standing up for Jesus and his Word, and inviting all 
others to do the same. We deny the right of any one to 
assume the name of an uninspired leader, as Luther, or 
Wesley, or Campbell, great and good as those men were. 
Therefore, none of our hymn-books or periodicals are 
thus designated. We are equally opposed to calling a 
church after any system of ecclesiastical polity, as Epis- 
copal, Presbyterian, Congregational, etc. These are not 
descriptive. Our Church claims all these terms, but puts 
them upon none of its books, papers, or houses of wor- 
ship, or willingly wears an uninspired style. There is no 
denominationalism in Christianity. 

V. Christ made the Good Confession before the Jewish 
high-priest and Sanhedrim, during the administration of 
Pontius Pilate, and died for the making of it. 

The authorized version of our text reads, " Jesus before 
Pontius Pilate." I have rendered the words em IToutcoij 
UddzoD, in the time of Pontius Pilate, in the sense of, 
during the administration of, etc. Ettc signifies the time 
in which something happens. On the subjed of date, it 
is thus used both in the classics and in Scripture.* At- 
tention is called to this criticism, because Jesus made his 
confession, truly, in the time of Pilate, but in the pres- 
ence of the high priest. The incident is most important 
and touching. In the trial before the Sanhedrim, the 
complaint against Jesus came near being dismissed for 
want of evidence. A comparison of Matthew, Mark, and 

*See the Greek of Luke iii : 2. During high priesthood (singular) of 
Annas and Caiaphas, Mark ii : 26, common version rendered correftly 
tTti 'Aj3ia 9ap, in the days of Abiathar. See also Mark xv: i, Luke iv: 
25, John iv: 27, where cTtt means during. 



D. S. BURNET. 6l 



Luke shows that many witnesses were presented by the 
prosecutors, but their testimony was irrelevant. At last, 
two agreed to say that Jesus had threatened to destroy 
the temple of God. As he had indeed said, if they should 
destroy the temple, meaning and pointing to his body, he 
would rear it up in three days, they had but to garble the 
statement to rouse the national hatred. But they failed 
again, as the testimony of the two did not circumstan- 
tially agree. When they were baffled at every point, the 
presiding Hierarch, coming to^ the aid of the prosecut- 
ors, cried out, '' I adjure you by the Living God," (I 
put you upon your oath,) "tell us whether thou be the 
Christ the Son of God. Jesus said unto him. Thou hast 
said."* It is here we find the ground of his condem- 
nation. He died for the Good Confession! The high 
priest rent his clothes, an aftion emblematical of fear and 
sorrow, sometimes of indignation, and also employed 
when giving the accused up to the rigors of the law. 
The consul Paulus rent his garment through indigna- 
tion, and Julius Caesar did the same to appease the infu- 
riated multitude. The fad is twice related of Augustus. 
Caiaphas tore his pontifical robe in irrepressible rage, 
making more impressive his surrender of the darling 
Lamb of God to the punishment of blasphemy, for he 
instantly put to vote the question of his execution on the 
charge of that crime. The Jews of the present day justify 
their ancestors and themselves in rejedling the greatest of 
men, as some rabbis call him, on the ground of the blas- 
phemy involved in his claim of Divine Sonship. 

In every attitude assumed by Jesus in the evangelical 
history, he excites our admiration and love; but that he 

*Matt. xxvi : 63. 



6l THE" LIVING PULPIT. 



himself should furnish the ground of his immolation, 
when his foes had failed, transcends all our conceptions 
of the morally sublime, and bankrupts love itself in its 
adoration. 

" Come, then, expressive silence, muse his praise." 

VI. The Confession by which Jesus died is appointed 
for our life. 

The deep-felt convidlion of all races and all ages coin- 
cides with the Bible statement that man is a sinner. 
"The whole head is sick and the whole heart faint. From 
the sole of the foot even unto the crown of the head, 
there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and 
putrefying sores."* The prophet is confirmed by the 
apostle. "I find then a law, that, when I would do 
good, evil is present with me.""}* The heathen poet ex- 
perienced the same internal struggle: 

Aliudque cupido. 
Mens aliud suadet. Vides meliora proboque; 
Deteriora sequor. 

Confession of Christ is a condition of salvation from 
sin. Confess me before men, and I will own you before 
the burning throne, is the promise of Christ. There is 
no recognition before God and angels without it. J The 
relation of the Confession to the cure of sin will be no- 
ticed hereafter; it is enough now to show that the Con- 
fession which brought death to Jesus brings life to us. 
The apostle says: *'With the heart man believeth unto 
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made 
unto salvation." § 

*Isaiahi: 5. fRom. vii: 21. 

JMatt. x: 32, 33. Luke xii: 8, 9. § Rom. x; 10. 



D. S. BURNET. 6^ 



What mercy! Jesus died by our sin, and for it, and 
we live by his righteousness. He died for acknowledg- 
ing himself to be our Messiah and God's Son- — the God- 
Man Savior. We live by believing and confessing the 
words which condemned him. He died confessing, that 
we might live confessing! It is a brazen serpent cures 
the serpent's bite! 

VII. The import and value of this formula entitles it 
to the designation Good or Beautiful Confession. 

Can a man believe that Jesus is the Christ, and not 
have the spirit of obedience? Can he be a rebel against 
him ? When about to ascend to heaven, Jesus observed 
to his disciples: "All authority in heaven and on earth 
is conferred upon me."* This was simply stating that 
he was the Messiah of the old covenant — the Christ of 
the new. Antiquity, weary of exhausting all the stores 
of its rhetoric for designations of David's son, fell upon 
the expedient of calling him the H^L!*^, Messiah, anointed, 
in Daniel, f and ever after so styled him. When the Jews 
adopted the Greek language, they employed Xpiaroc, An- 
glicised Christ, because it was of the same import. As all 
authority, sacerdotal and regal, was conferred by anoint- 
ing with oil, to call ''him that was to come" the anointed, 
was to say precisely what Jesus affirmed — all authority^ 
celestial and terrestrial, is conferred upon me. The Jews 
on Pentecost were pierced to the heart, when they under- 
stood from the fisherman apostle that God had made the 
person whom they had consigned to ignominy and death 
both Lord and Christ, and nothing could be more natu- 
ral than their agonizing shriek. Brethren, what shall we 
do ? Then, verbally, Christ is anointed, but evangeli- 

*Matt. xxviii: i8. | Daniel ix : 25, 26. 



64 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



cally, he receives all authority and power. Faith in the 
Christhood admits the regal authority of Jesus, and is the 
very germ of obedience. 

But it is more. The anointed is Priest — High Priest. 
Paul beautifully unfolds the idea in the Hebrews. Christ- 
hood is sacrifice and offering ; blood at the altar and 
blood at the mercy-seat. It is death for sin, the innocent 
for the sins of the guilty, and ceaseless intercession in 
heaven for the erring. No man intelligently believes this 
without feeling that he is a sinner needing a Savior. To 
confess the Christhood of Jesus is to avow one's self a 
sinner, and to come to God bearing this precious Lamb 
that taketh away the sin of the world in his heart. He 
sings with Watts : 

" My faith would lay her hand 
On that dear head of thine. 
While like a penitent I stand. 
And thus confess my sin." 

Can one say Jesus is the Son of God without admit- 
ting the divinity of his mission ? Can any make the Con- 
fession of the Sonship without acknowledging the Father- 
hood? Can any one recognize a Father and a Son in God 
without acknowledging God in both? Is the Father di- 
vine ? So is the Son, else there were not the communit} 
of nature imparted by those two relations ; for Jesus is 
not a Son of God by creation, but the Son of God by 
birth — the only-begotten of the Father. 

The Confession presents Jesus objedively in all his of- 
ficial and personal relations to the universe — the Lord of 
all, God manifest in the flesh, and the Savior of sinners. 
Blessed be his holy name! Subjedively, the confessor 
stands before God a sinner, meeting Jehovah at the altar 



D. S. BURNET. 6s 



of sacrifice and the mercy-seat upon the blood of Jesus. 
Here God exclaims, 

"My Son, in whom I delight!" 

The confessor responds, ^* He is the chiefest among ten 
thousands, and the one altogether lovely!" The Cross 
of Christ is the pacification of the universe. Blessed are 
all they who put their trust in him ! 

The words zyru xal^v of the text, translated ^'the good,'* 
as applied to the Confession, may be rendered ''the beau- 
tiful." It is defined beautiful, applied to visible things 
and persons ; to man's inward nature, morally beautiful, 
noble; serving a good end, good, fair. The noble, the 
beautiful Confession ! So honorable to God, so invalu- 
able and creditable to man ! During a ministry of over 
forty years, it has been the delight of your speaker to 
take this good, noble, and beautiful Confession of thou- 
sands. No pearl so priceless or diamond so bright to 
the eye of faith as the pure distillation of sorrow on the 
cheek of penitence ! and no music so tender as the sweet 
response of the heart, "I do believe, and I wish to serve 
Jesus ! " 

The reception of thousands upon the simple confes- 
sion of faith and obedience has caused some nervousness 
among those who require a recital of inward struggles, 
and delineations of the various shades of darkness and 
light, doubt and confidence, which may have marked the 
progress of the soul to final submission. Who has pro- 
duced one precedent or precept for the admission of 
persons to baptism upon any other basis than the Con- 
fession ? Echo asks. Who? and asks in vain ! It must, 
however, be admitted that, like every other good thing, 
the noble Confession is liable to abuse by both adminis- 



66 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



trator and subjed:. The preacher is warned against care- 
lessness in building upon this foundation wood, hay, or 
stubble.* His work shall pass the ordeal of fire. Let 
him look well, then, to the materials of his spiritual edi- 
fice. As a wise man, he will ascertain whether the candi- 
date understands the Confession. He has Philip for his 
authority."!" An age too tender to have such understand- 
ing should be held back till more mature. He should 
be persuaded of the sincerity of the offer, and of the felt 
force of a correct understanding. No man whose habits 
render his failure a certainty, is in that state fit for the 
kingdom of God. The necessity of restraint, however, is 
the exception, not the rule. The great difficulty is to get 
persons willing to serve Christ. It is believed that the 
practice recommended in this discourse is more uniformly 
successful, when carefully and intelligently guarded, than 
any other in making numerous and stable converts. Dis- 
asters, indeed, have occurred by the inconsiderate zeal of 
some impulsive men, more desirous of multiplying tro- 
phies than of securing a lasting vidory. 

The want of sufficient pastoral labor has systematic- 
ally invited apostasy. Traveling preachers should be dis- 
suaded from leaving bodies of new recruits in new places 
without regular drill, done by themselves or those whom 
they provide. 

The position of the Confession in the Gospel economy 
heightens its beauty. It immediately precedes baptism in 
the name of Christ, for the remission of sins through his 
precious blood and the gift of the Holy Spirit.J Before 
heaven and earth the candidate states his faith in the Jesus 

*i Cor. iii: 8-15. -f-Afts viii: 30. 

J Afts, ii: 28; xxii: 16; viii; 37, 38. 



D. S. BURNET. 6'/ 



of the New Testament, and his desire to serve him ; that 
he is thus dead to the world in heart, as he is dead before 
the law; that .he desires to consummate this death in an 
adual leaving of the world. As we bury the dead, we 
bury him. ''As many of you as are baptized into Jesus 
Christ are baptized into his death; therefore we are buried 
with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was 
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even 
so we should walk in newness of life."* The confessor 
is immersed both into the dea,th of Christ, and into his 
own death to the world. He ena6ls, in a living tableaux, 
an allegorical death, burial, and resurrection. In the light 
of this and similar passages, nothing can claim to be bap- 
tism that does not fulfill its conditions of burial and rising. 

In this discourse, A(5i:s viii : 37, I believe that Jesus is 
the Christ, the Son of God, has not been quoted, because, 
on the authority of the Bagster Greek Testament, Tisch- 
endorf, Alford, etc., it is rejeded. Yet the Bible Union 
Revision, Bengal, Benson, and many others having re- 
tained it, it is best to consider its authenticity an open 
question. If it is genuine, its testimony is decisive. If 
it is rejeded, it is scarcely less. If it is an interpolation, 
it is a historic proof of the universality of the pradice of 
taking the good Confession from the convert. That the 
exclusion of verse 37 leaves the eunuch's question — 
"What doth hinder me to be baptized?" — unanswered, 
must forever stand a presumptive argument in favor of 
the authenticity of that verse. The Bible is never silent 
on dire6t questions of that class. 

VIII. All men will be compelled to confess Christ at 
the close of this dispensation. 

* Rom. vi : 3, 4. 



68 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



As a different Greek word is employed in these words, 
" Every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the 
glory of God the Father/'* this acknowledgment of all in 
heaven, earth, and hades will not be making the Good, the 
Noble Confession. Though indeed it shall be the result 
of convidion, and shall be a voluntary accord from all 
who have loved the world too much to love Christ, it 
will be too late for that class. The nobleness of confess- 
ing Christ as the sinner's friend is not to be confounded 
with the acknowledgment of him as judge when dragged 
before his tribunal. Indeed, many in that day shall call 
upon overhanging rocks and towering mountains to hide 
them in their opened graves, that they be not dragged 
like culprits from their cells, before the face of God and 
the Lamb, now become the Lion of judgment. To look 
upon him whom they have pierced, and gaze upon the 
brow once lacerated with thorns, but now encircled by 
the diadem of universal dominion, were a terrible retribu- 
tion, even if there were no lake of fire nor shoreless abyss 
below. Is it better, friendly alien, to receive an irrevo- 
cable sentence on the knees and confess the power of 
justice after a life's resistance, or to compound your diffi- 
culties in accepting the offered grace of the inevitable 
conqueror, by an expressive confession of his well-estab- 
lished claims, and a union of your interests and efforts 
with his rising cause? "Kiss the Son lest he be angry, 
and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but 
a little. Blessed are all they who put their trust in him ! " 
Amen. 

*Phil. ii: ii. 




/^^^^ 



X 



-c^^:^^i^i , 



V 



HENRY T. ANDERSON. 



'T^HIS distinguished scholar and preacher needs no lengthy introduftion 
-^ to American readers. His Translation of the New Testament has 
made his name quite familiar in this country, and he is not altogether un 
known in many portions of Europe. 

Henry T. Anderson was born in Caroline County, Virginia, on the 
27th of January, 1812. His parents, who were also natives of Virginia, 
were Baptists, though quite liberal in their views. Hence, Brother An- 
derson's early religious training was nearly in harmony with the position 
he now occupies. The Bible was the text-book, and its teachings had a 
very powerful influence upon his youthful mind. 

At the age of twenty-one he made the confession, and was immersed 
by his elder brother, who had left the Baptists and united with the Dis- 
ciples. By giving diligent attention to the study of the Scriptures, he 
made such rapid progress in the Divine life that he began to preach in May, 
1833, not more than ten months after his baptism. 

His method of studying the Scriptures was such as left nothing unno- 
ticed. The Bible was read and re-read again and again. Every sentence 
was studied, both in the original and English, with the most prayerful in- 
terest. Scripture was used to illustrate and explain Scripture, until every 
subjeft in the Word of God was examined in the light of Divine Truth. 
This method of investigation made his preaching didaftic rather than hor- 
tatory, praftical rather than ornamental. Hence, in the popular style, he 
is not an orator. Nevertheless, his discourses are always highly enter- 
taining, because they are full of instru6lion,and delivered in an earnest, im- 
pressive style. 

He remained in Virginia, preaching at various places in Caroline, Han- 
over, and some other counties, until the year 1837, when he removed to 
Kentucky, and for several years taught school and preached in the south- 
ern portion of the State. In November, 1847, he took charge of the 
Walnut-street Church in Louisville, and continued there six years. After 
this he was engaged for about eight years in teaching classical schools, and 

(69) 



yo . THE LIVING PULPIT. 



preaching the Gospel in various parts of the State. In December, i86l, 
he began to translate the New Testament, a work upon which his repu- 
tation chiefly rests. For many years he had made the New Testament 
original a consiant study. He had been blessed in early life with a fine 
classical education; and such was his devotion to the Greek, that, when 
he began to make his translation, it was equally as familiar to him as the 
English. Of the translation itself we need not speak, except to say that 
it has been pronounced by competent judges the best in the English lan- 
guage. Whether this be true or not, it certainly has superior merits, and 
will doubtless take a high position among standard works of its kind. He 
is now engaged in giving an exaft translation of the text of Tischendorf. 
His present home is in Harrodsburg, Ky., where he has preached for the 
Church for several years. 

His prominent chara6leristics are originality of thought, simplicity of 
manner, and great faith in the providence of God. He is emphatically a 
thinker, and every thing that he says gives unmistakable evidence that he 
is not satisfied to simply appropriate the labor of others. He seeks the 
foundation of things, and though his views may not always be corredl, 
they are always highly suggestive. 

His whole nature is childlike. The most perfeft simplicity marks 
every thing he does. His purposes are as transparent as light itself. No 
one could be freer from affeftation. But that which distinguishes him 
above every thing else is his wonderful faith in God. We do not think 
we have ever known a man who gives himself more unreservedly into the 
hands of his Heavenly Father. In this world's goods he has been poor 
all his life, but he has certainly been rich in faith. The circumstances 
under which he began his translation afford a fine illustration of this pe- 
culiarity. Having a large family to support, with a salary not exceeding 
six hundred dollars, and no other means that he could command, there 
was little prospeft that he could do any thing beyond supplying the neces- 
sities of the hour. But he had faith in God, and entered upon the work 
with full confidence that the "Lord would provide." In speaking of 
this subjeft, in 1863, he says: "The Lord raised me up friends. Some 
from a distance sent me a few dollars. Two worthy sisters paid one 
hundred and twenty dollars each last year. Those near me have, some 
of them, remembered my wants, and generously supplied me with food 
and clothing. Though the war swept away what little I had, God has 
never forsaken me. I have a Father in heaven, a Redeemer at his right 
hand. My prayers have been heard. Friends are near me, and I live, a 
monument of the truth that God will not forsake those who put their 
trust in him." 



JESUS OF NAZARETH IS THE 
THEANTHROPOS. 



BY H. T. AN'DERSON. 



"And thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from 
their sins." — Matt, i: 21. 

WHAT think you of the Christ? whose son is he? 
The Jews answered: The son of David. Jesus 
replied: How, then, does David in spirit call him Lord, 
saying, Jehovah said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right 
hand, till I put thy enemies under thy feet? The Scrip- 
ture makes it evident that the Christ is the son of David. 
The answer to the question, that he is David's son, was 
and is corred. But this first question led to the second, 
to which the Jews gave no answer. The son of David, 
according to Scripture, should sit at the right hand of 
Jehovah till his enemies were put beneath his feet. 

We are to suppose that the Jews either would answer 
this second question, and could not, or that they coidd, 
and would not. The Scriptures furnished the answer. 
The writer, Matthew, says: ''No one was able to answer 
him a word." This inability of theirs did not proceed 
from ignorance; for the Scripture had said that David's 
son should be the Son of God: "Lwill be to him a 
father, and he shall be to me a son." The Christ, as Son 

(70 



72 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



of God, would have a right to sit at the right hand of 
Jehovah. It is probable that the Jews understood this, 
and their inability to answer the question arose, not from 
ignorance, but from a consciousness that an answer would 
have entangled them in a snare from which they would 
not have been able to escape. 

Jesus is the son of David, and Son of God. As such 
he is son of two kings — one, the king of earth; the other, 
king of the heavens. The Scripture had made many 
promises to David and to David's son. His throne and 
his kingdom were to be of endless duration. To the Jews 
there was something fearful in the answer to this second 
question. Jesus had been called the son of David, and 
while they were willing to acknowledge that the Christ 
was the son of David, they were not willing to answer a 
question which they saw would lead to an acknowledge- 
ment that Jesus the Nazarene was that person, who 
should possess endless as well as universal dominion. 

The words "Sit thou at my right hand, till I put thy 
enemies under thy feet," involve the overthrow of all 
who are not friends of Jesus. Hence an answer to the 
question, "What think you of the Christ?'* involves the 
eternal destiny of every man. If the question be an- 
swered as Scripture requires, and become, when answered, 
the guide of life, then it is well for him that answers it. 
But if an answer be given which Scripture does not jus- 
tify, and the answer become the guide of life, then the 
answerer becomes the enemy who shall be put beneath the 
feet of the Christ. 

It not unfrequently happens that men surround them- 
selves with necessity which leads them to perdition. 
Jesus, on another occasion, put a question to the Jews 
which they could not answer: "The immersion of John, 



H. T. ANDERSON. "73 

whence was it ? from heaven or from men ? But they 
reasoned among themselves, and said. If we reply. From 
heaven, he will say to us. Why, then, did you not believe 
him ? But if we reply. From men, we fear the multi- 
tude; for all regard John as a prophet. And they an- 
swered and said to Jesus, We know not." 

H'ow easy for men to involve themselves in such a ne- 
cessity. We set up our gods in our own hearts ; we 
determine to worship them ; we see that an answer to 
certain questions will involve us, in inconsistency; we can 
not endure to contradict our own theories, and for fear 
of the reproach that others may cast against us, we deter- 
mine to follow our delusions, and perish in them. Each 
man that holds an error ties a millstone about his neck, 
that will drown him in the depths of the sea. Men's 
opinions are the millstones that they fondly tie about 
their necks; and these opinions are the cause of their 
ruin. The traditions of the Jews, their fondness for 
their rites, their love of the favor of men proved their de- 
stru(5tion. 

There are many Christs. As many as are the opinions 
of men, so many Christs are there. But there is but one 
Christ — the Christ of history. He it is of whom Moses 
in the law and the prophets did write. He it is who is 
written of by the holy apostles. He, and he alone, is the 
Christ. Jesus the Nazarene, the son of the virgin, is the 
Christ, the Son of the living God. Whatever has been 
written of him must be received as true. Our reason, 
our intelledual nature, our spirit, our mind, whatever is 
within us, require of us to accept as true the testimonies 
which have been preserved to us from the days of the 
apostles. I desire life. Jesus gives eternal life. I die. 
Jesus will destroy death. I am a sinner. Jesus died for 



74 ' THE LIVING PULPIT. 



our sins. I wish to be just before God. Jesus rose again 
for our justification. There is not a wish in my whole 
nature which is not fully satisfied in Jesus of Nazareth. 
To the testimonies, then, concerning Him. What say 
theyp 

Let us ignore all creeds and formulas of faith as made 
and published by men. Rise we, at once, to the pure 
fountain of eternal truth. " Behold, a virgin shall be 
with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his 
name Immanuel, which, when translated, is, God with us." 
This is Matthew's thesis. His testimony sustains his 
thesis. Note well his words. Immanuel is God with us. 
That being conceived by the virgin of the Holy Spirit, is 
God with us. Here let skepticism lay her hand on her 
mouth, and dare not utter one word of dissent. Was de- 
ceit found in Jesus's mouth.? Did Herod find in him any 
thing worthy of death? Did the Jews find any witness 
that could testify to aught that he did amiss .? For what 
crime did he suflfer death ? Was it a crime to acknowledge 
himself the Son of God.? For this he suffered, not for 
aught that he had done amiss. Then there was in him 
no sin. Judas, who betrayed him, testified to his inno- 
cence. He was in life pure and spotless. Surely, then, 
he is God with us. Though in flesh, he was not of flesh. 
Though in form as man, he was not of man. Hence his 
sinlessness. Being sinless, he is God with us. 

Let this be our first proof of the true Godhead of 
Jesus. The manner and the matter of his speech shall 
be our second proof "You have heard that it was said 
to the ancients, You shall not kill; and whoever shall 
kill, shall be liable to the sentence of the judges. But I 
say to you. Whoever is angry with his brother, shall be 
liable to the sentence of the judges." 



H. T. ANDERSON. 75 

The words, '^I say to you," so often repeated in this 
discourse, exhibit a consciousness of authority to make 
law which no other human being ever possessed. Indeed, 
the multitudes felt this peculiarity of manner, for they 
were astonished at his teaching; for he taught as having 
authority, and not as the scribes. 

Hear him again: '* I am the light of the world; he 
that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have 
the light of life." And again : " For the Father judges no 
one, but has given all judicial authority to the Son; that 
all may honor the Son, as they honor the Father." Lan- 
guage such as this needs no comment. It is the utter- 
ance of one who knows what he says, conscious of what 
he is. 

When he had risen from the dead, he gave to his apos- 
tles the last commission in these words: "Go, therefore, 
make disciples of all the nations, immersing them into 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Spirit." This commission is based on a fa6l stated in 
the preceding words: "All authority in heaven and on 
earth is given to me." Note well the words "All au- 
thority." We can conceive of authority legislative, au- 
thority judicial, authority executive, no more. In his 
person is centered all this. What, then, is the argument 
to be drawn from this? Evidently that he is God; for 
none other than God can make law for all in heaven and 
on earth; none other than one possessed of all knowledge 
and wisdom can judge all; and none other than God can 
execute the laws after judgment has been given. Look 
through the vast array of beings intelledlual in heaven 
and on earth. For all these law must be made. To their 
condition the laws must be adapted. In judging them, 
mercy and justice must combine. Their varied condi- 



7& THE LIVING PULPIT. 



tions, the unnumbered circumstances that govern their 
adions, must all be considered. Who is sufficient for 
this but one who has all knowledge, and all wisdom, and 
all justice?" 

'*^ The Father judges no one." Well may we rejoice 
in this saying. One will judge who has been in the flesh, 
tempted in all points as we are ; consequently, knowing, 
from his own experience, what it is to be in the flesh, 
what it is to be tried, and, therefore, knowing how to 
judge of the adions of men. 

Between man and the Infinite One called the Father 
there was a gulf of infinite breadth and depth. Look 
abroad to the heavens; behold their immeasurable vast- 
ness ! How could man approach, come near to, such a 
being? We feel overwhelmed by the unsearchable great- 
ness of God. But turn, now, and look at Jesus. He 
is Immanuel, God with us. In him God comes near us; 
God ceases to be at an immeasurable distance. The in- 
comprehensible grandeur and unsearchable greatness of 
God, now clad in flesh, are not such as to overawe our 
souls, and make us shrink within ourselves, terrified, 
alarmed, and awe-struck. No; through Jesus we draw 
nearer to God, for he has come very near to us. That 
measureless gulf has been filled with the presence of Im- 
manuel, God with us. He is our lawgiver and our 
judge. In him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead 
bodily. Yet he is the Man Christ Jesus. Dear to every 
Christian is the truth that such a one has all judicial au- 
thority committed to him. 

The Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus is the heir of all 
things. If he is the heir of all things, then he has the 
knowledge of all things, and the wisdom with which to 
govern all things. What man would give to a son an 



H. T. ANDERSON. 77 



estate, knowing that he had not understanding sufficient 
to enable him to manage it with prudence? The wisdom 
of the heir of all things should be such as to enable him 
to control all things. Who, then, but God can know all 
things, manage all things, and control all things, so as to 
cause them to work together for good for those who love 
him? Messiah is God over all things, forever blessed. 
We are also told that he is head over all things to the 
Church. 

There is good reason why he 'is the heir of all things, 
He created all things. Let us hear an apostle: "For 
by him were all things created, things in heaven and 
things in earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or 
lordships, or principalities, or authorities; all things have 
been created by him, and for him: and he is before all 
things, and by him all things consist." Note well this 
language. He is before all things, and by him all things 
consist. Evident, then, is it that he who was before all 
things, and by whom all things consist, is not a creation. 
And, further, he who created all things has a right to all 
things, and is, consequently, the heir of all things. 

But there is another argument conneded with this. 
The apostle adds: ''For it pleased the Father that all his 
fullness should dwell in him." If, then, all the fullness 
of the Father dwells in him, how can he be not equal to 
the Father? He did not think it an ad of robbery to 
be equal with God. The Jews understood that the Son 
of God was equal with God. The Apostle John tells 
us that the Jews sought the more to kill him because he 
had not only broken the Sabbath, but also said that God 
was his own Father, making himself equal with God. 

It is argued, however, that he himself says, ''My 
Father is greater than I." Yes, and it is true, too, that 



78 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



he was made a little lower than the angels. There is a 
vast difference between the nature of a being and the po- 
sition of a being. As a Son, he was less than the Father. 
But when did he become a Son? When he was born of 
the virgin. As a man on earth, he was less than the 
Father. As such, made subjed to death, he was a little 
lower than the angels. The relation of son to a father 
supposes the one greater than the other ; but let the re- 
lation be no longer considered, and the one is equal with 
the other. Whatever the father is, the son Is. Is David 
the father of the Christ .^ Then the Christ is flesh. Flesh 
is equal to flesh. Flesh can not be less than flesh. So 
the Christ, being the Son of God, is equal to God. God 
can not be less than God. In other words, the divine 
nature can not be less than the divine nature. The xo 
QzLov is the to Sziov. Qzovq^ is dzorrjc:. It can not be less. 
The Christ is Theanthropos, God-Man. As God, he is 
fully so; as man, he is fully so. In the Christ dwells all 
the fullness of the Godhead, ^sor^c, bodily. It is evident 
that the less can not contain the greater. But the Christ 
has all the fullness of the dsoryjc: in himself. Hence, apo- 
didlically, equal to God. 

The apostle of the Gentiles, in his letter to the Romans, 
says of the Christ, that he was made or born of the pos- 
terity of David, according to the flesh, but declared to be 
the Son of God with power, according to his holy spiritual 
nature, by his resurred:ion from the dead. The learned 
may differ somewhat in their understanding of this pas- 
sage. But one thing is evident and beyond dispute, that 
there is a contrast — his sonship according to the flesh, and 
his sonship according to the opposite nature. As the son 
of David, he was flesh, and consequently weak; as Son 
of God, he was possessed of a holy spiritual nature, and 



H. T. ANDERSON. 79 



consequently had &ijvaac^^ power. To this state of weak- 
ness he refers when he says, '' My Father is greater 
than I." 

I will not here press into service that passage found in 
I Tim. iii: 16, because I am satisfied that the reading in 
the common Greek text can not be supported. Instead 
of reading, ''God was manifested in flesh," I shall read, 
according to Tischendorf, " He who was manifested in 
flesh, was justified in spirit, seen by angels," etc. It is a 
question, then, well to be considered, Who is he that was 
manifested in flesh? When this question is duly consid- 
ered, we shall arrive at a conclusion as safe as though we 
should retain the common reading. It is evident that 
some one was manifested in flesh. He who was mani- 
fested in flesh was more than flesh. 

The apostle John will give us an answer to the ques- 
tion. Who was this? "And the Word became flesh, 
and tabernacled among us, (and we beheld his glory, the 
glory as of the only-begotten of the Father,) full of grace 
and of truth." The Word, Logos, Wisdom, was made 
flesh, and hence manifested in flesh. It is worthy of re- 
mark that Jesus, on two occasions, uses the term Wis- 
dom when speaking of himself. "For this reason also 
the Wisdom of God said," (Luke xi: 49.) "For this 
reason, behold, I send you prophets," etc., (Matt, xxiii: 
34.) "Yet Wisdom is justified by her children," (Matt. 
xi: 19.) In these places the term Wisdom seems to stand 
for the Messiah. Of the first quoted, there can be no 
doubt, for in the parallel place in Matthew we find him 
using the pronoun I. That which is by him called Wis- 
dom is by John called The Logos, the Word. Let us 
approach the first of John, and weigh the contents of his 
first verse. 



8o THE LIVING PULPIT. 



^'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was 
with God, and the Word was God." 

This beginning can be no other than that mentioned by- 
Moses; "In the beginning God created the heavens and 
the earth;" for the apostle goes further, and says, "He 
was in the beginning with God. All things were made 
by him, and without him not one thing was made that 
exists." Let the reader compare Prov. viii, in which 
Wisdom is represented as being with God in the begin- 
ning. 

Let it be well noted that creation is attributed to the 
Logos or Word: " By him all things were made." " He 
was in the beginning with God." "The Word was God." 
I will not permit myself to attempt to explain what hu- 
man language can not explain. I call attention to the 
fadts stated. That being, who is here called the Logos, 
was with God, and adtive in creation. Jesus, in his prayer 
recorded by this apostle, says : " Glorify me with thyself 
with the glory which I had with thee before the world 
was." He did exist, then, before the world existed. He 
began the creation. He ws before all things. He is 
not, then, as the Nicene Creed says, "God of God," but 
he was God. In the simplest, broadest, only sense, he 
is God ; for to him is creation attributed. No one can 
create but God. 

Here we might make an end of our argument; but as 
the testimony is not exhausted, let the argument be con- 
tinued. The Apostle Paul applies the following words, 
quoted from Psalm 102, to the Messiah: "And thou. 
Lord, in the beginning didst lay the foundation of the 
earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands. They 
shall perish, but thou remainest: and they all shall grow 
old as a garment; and as a mantle thou shalt fold them 



H. T. ANDERSON. 8 1 



up, and they shall be changed; but thou art the same, and 
thy years shall not fail." 

In Micah, v: 2, we find the birth of Jesus foretold: 
" But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be small 
among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall he come 
forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings 
forth have been from of old, from everlasting." 

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Yet his goings forth 
had been from old, from everlasting. Does this language 
require comment.? Can it be m'ade more full, more com- 
prehensive, by aught that we can sayp Let it stand as 
found in the holy Scripture, fully testifying to the eternal 
duration of that being who was once in flesh. We have 
made it evident from Scripture that Jesus is the Thean- 
thropos — the God-Man. We have given answer to this 
question. What think you of the Christ? Be it known 
that this is our answer, that this is what we have to say 
of the Christ. Ignoring all creeds and confessions of 
faith as made by men, we come to the oracles of the living 
God, and decide this question on which hangs the destiny 
of the human race. Jesus the Nazarene is Immanuel, 
God with us; in the true sense, God; and in the true 
sense, Man. 

He must have been such as we have found him de- 
scribed in Scripture, otherwise he could not be a Savior. 
He came to save man from sin, and he must meet and 
overpower all the adversaries of man. Satan is the prince 
of the hosts of darkness, the author of all evil, the mur- 
derer of the family of Adam. Jesus must meet him and 
subdue him. Jesus is the head over all the hosts of light, 
direding them by his wisdom in his great conflict with the 
powers of darkness. It requires infinite wisdom so to 
control these powers of light as to finally gain the vidory 
6 



82 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



over the enemies of God and of man. Behold, then, one 
who wears our nature, sitting at the right hand of the 
throne of the Majesty on high, clothed with all authority 
in heaven and on earth, and this for the purpose of bring- 
ing honor and glory to the sons of God. As man, he 
sympathizes with us in all our sufferings, feels our sor- 
rows, intercedes for us ; as God, he will put under his feet 
every enemy that stands opposed to our honor, our glory, 
our life, and our incorruptibility. What, then, shall we 
say of him in conclusion? 

We will say that which God has said: "Let all the an- 
gels of God worship him.'* He whom all the angels of 
God worship, is worthy of the worship of all the sons of 
men. "And I saw, and heard the voice of many angels 
round about the throne, and the living creatures and the 
elders ; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, 
and thousands of thousands. And they said, with a loud 
voice: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive 
power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, 
and glory, and blessing. And every creature that is in 
heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and such as are 
in the sea, even all that are in them, I heard saying: To 
him that sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be blessing, 
and honor, and glory, and strength, from age to age." 

What argument shall we draw from universal worship ? 
All the angels of God, and all created beings unite in 
giving to Jesus the Nazarene the homage of their hearts. 
In the midst of this universal homage, can there be found 
a mortal, a being who calls himself a man, that refuses 
that honor and glory and blessing which are due to the 
Lamb? If there is one, then all the angels of God will 
unite in saying. Let such a one be put among the enemies 
of Jesus beneath his feet. 



H. T. ANDERSON. 83 



'* Behold, he comes with clouds, and every eye shall 
see him, and those also who pierced him." He comes 
again, even as he ascended into heaven. He was despised 
and rejeded by men; he was a man of sorrows, and ac- 
quainted with grief. Yet he comes to be glorified on 
earth. A kingdom is in reservation for him, that all peo- 
ples, nations, and languages may serve him. He comes 
as the Son of Man, to visit the sons of men, to give re- 
ward to all that have faithfully served him. To those 
who look for him he will appear' the second time, without 
a sin-offering, for salvation. But to those who have cor- 
rupted his holy religion, who have disregarded his saints, 
who have despised his little ones, he will appear in flam- 
ing fire for destrudion. He will come in the glory of 
his Father and of the holy angels, and he will reward 
every one as his work shall be. 

Blessed Redeemer, come quickly. Thy saints are 
weary, they mourn thy absence, they long for thy com- 
ing. Again we say, Blessed Redeemer, come quickly. 




•^ 









THOMAS MUNNELL. 



'TpHIS earnest, energetic, and successful preacher of the Gospel is a 
■^ native of Ohio County, West Virginia, and was born February 8, 
1823. He remained at home with his parents until he entered Beth- 
any College, where he graduated, in 1850, as one of the ** Honor men" 
of his class. While at college he was distinguished for high intellectual 
and moral qualities, and, during the last session he remained there, began 
to exercise his gifts in preaching the Gospel. After graduating, he en- 
tered at once aftively on the work of preaching and teaching. Seven 
years of his life were spent in this double employment, the greater por- 
tion of the time, filling the chair of Ancient Languages and Literature in 
the Western Reserve Ecleftic Institute, located at Hiram, Portage County, 
Ohio. While holding this position he gave abundant evidence of fine 
executive talent, as well as that energy and persistence for which he has 
always been distinguished. It was largely through his instrumentality that 
the institution in which he labored was placed on the road to success ; and 
whatever prosperity has attended its subsequent career is owing, in a great 
measure, to his efforts to give it a consistent and permanent organization 
while he was one of its professors. Since leaving Hiram he has been 
ofi^ered several times the Presidency of the Institute, but has never felt it 
his duty to accept. 

In addition to his experience as a teacher at Hiram, he has, at different 
times, been Principal of flourishing academies at Williamsburg, N. Y., Mt. 
Sterling, Ky., and New Castle, Ky. At all these points he gave evidence 
that he possessed superior qualifications to impart knowledge to the youth- 
ful mind, and a proper moral direftion to the youthful heart. 

In 1857, he entered upon the duties of pastor of the Christian Church 
corner of Eighth and Walnut streets, Cincinnati, Ohio. His labors in 
this church were constant and arduous. Visiting from house to house, 
and especially among the poor of the congregation, was an every-day duty. 
The strong were made stronger, the wavering confirmed, the indifferent 

(85) 



86 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



warned, the prodigals persuaded to return to their Father's house, while a 
general interest was created in the Sunday-school, prayer-meeting, and all 
the other agencies of the Church. Such labors, as they deserved to be, 
were greatly blessed. The spiritual strength of the Church was largely 
increased. Christian sympathies and aftivities developed, while the Lord 
added many converts from the world to the cause of Christ. 

In 1 860, he removed to Mt. Sterling, Ky., where he divided his labors 
between the Church and an Academy until the war compelled him to dis- 
continue the latter. He was with the brethren there during their severest 
trials, and did much, by his prudent counsels, prayerful labors, and con- 
stant watchfulness, to save the Church from division, and the cause from 
utter ruin. 

For the last four years his time has been chiefly occupied as Correspond- 
ing Secretary of the Kentucky Missionary Society, and his success in this 
department of labor has proved him to be the ''right man in the right 
place." His present home is Mt. Sterling, Ky. 

Brother Munnell is five feet nine inches and a half high, weighs about 
one hundred and forty pounds, has a tough, bony frame, high, projefting 
forehead, dark-brown hair and beard, with a sharp, black eye, that always 
looks you straight in the face. His whole organization is indicative of a 
charafter distinguished for great mental and physical adlivity ; such a char- 
after as is capable of a large amount of good, honest work. 

His preaching is chiefly pradlical, and always instruftive and entertain- 
ing, though not remarkable for logical arrangement, rhetorical finish, or 
oratorical display. He is a much better writer than speaker. He is very 
fond of discussion, and, with the pen, is a formidable opponent, as any 
knight of the quill may learn by attempting to cross his plans. Notwith- 
standing this, he is kind in the social circle, and has, in a remarkable de- 
gree, the power of attrafting all classes of society to him. 



ATONEMENT. 



BY THOMAS MUNNELL. 



*' But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were 
yet sinners, Christ died for us." — Rom. v : 8. 

IN approaching the philosophy of reconciliation to 
God, involving the profoundest principles of moral 
government, no humble minister will feel very confident 
of his ability to equal the lofty theme. It is said that 
Handel, when composing his oratorio of "Creation," al- 
ways went to the piano with the prayer '^ that he might 
praise God worthily;" and the anxious inquiry of every 
proclaimer of the love of Jesus is, 

"How shall I my Savior set forth? 
How shall I his beauties declare } 
Oh ! how shall I speak of his worth. 
Or what his chief dignities are.!*" 

If there be such a science as moral philosophy, its length 
and breadth, and depth and height, are all involved in the 
Cross of Jesus Christ. Believing that its principles are 
as fixed and indestrudible as those of natural philosophy 
or chemistry, I propose to show, from evidences wholly 
undeniable, that the Cross was not an arbitrary, but a nec- 
essary, antecedent to the pardon of our sins. It must 

(87) 



88 THE LIVING PULPIT. 

be remembered, however, that no analogies, drawn from 
governments as developed among men, should be re- 
quired, in all respeds, to illustrate the dodrine of Atone- 
ment. Notwithstanding this, the purpose is to make our 
way through the thickest of the difficulties inherent in this 
deepest of all theological subjeds, and to show that, con- 
trary to all skeptical deductions from inadequate prem- 
ises, it is consonant with all other truths well recognized 
in the governments of men ; and as the necessities that 
impelled the death of Christ were of a governmental char- 
after, we must, first of all, look into the very foundation 
of government itself, as developed in the several sedions 
that follow. 

I. Most men will admit, without argument, that, when 
God made man, it was necessary to place his moral as well 
as his physical nature under law ; that, just as a child is 
unequal to all his future relations, is unable to projedl 
that course of life that will be best for him in old age, 
to have pursued in youth, and, therefore, needs the wis- 
dom and guiding counsels of parents, so man, being also 
of himself unequal to all his future interests, and in this 
life unable to projed: a course that would prove, a mill- 
ion years to come, to have been the best, surely needs 
the law of wisdom from the heavenly Father to guide 
him as a frail child through a perilous future wholly un- 
known to him. This principle, by following out one of 
the plainest analogies suggested in common life, plainly 
says that man needs, and must have, a law to keep him 
from evil. 

It must not be forgotten that a written moral law was 
necessitated by the physical, mental, and moral constitu- 
tions given us by our Creator — was anticipated by these. 
The fa6l that our bodies may be injured by gluttony de- 



THOMAS MUNNELL. 89 



mands a law forbidding gluttony, to shield us from the 
punishment inherent in that sin. Would it not be un- 
kind in the Lord to form our bodies so that they inevita- 
bly would be injured by debauchery, and yet utter no 
word of warning against it? Again: our moral constitu- 
tions are so constructed that falsehood, dishonesty, and 
all impurity of heart are damaging to the soul; and as the 
simple child of nature does not know of these results ex- 
cept by a terrible experience, it was both wise and merci- 
ful in the Almighty to issue a law, saying, ''Thou shalt," 
and ''Thou shalt not." The presence of the Bible in the 
world does not create the penalty of sin ; it only foretells 
the natural results of sin, and shows the way of escape. 
Strong drink would ruin the body just the same as if there 
was no law in the Bible against it. The penalty is inher- 
ent in the sin itself, and not in any arbitrary appointment 
of God, and unless we go back of our creation and in- 
quire, ^''Why hast thou made me thus? " why hast thou made 
my body and soul liable to be affected pleasantly or un- 
pleasantly by good or bad actions .f* it is useless to com- 
plain of the laws of revelation, which were not first, but 
came in after we were made, and that with a view of meet- 
ing our constitutional necessities as already established. 
The vital pradical truth is, that "All have sinned and 
come short of the glory of God;" then "The wages of 
sin is death." We have received a law which is "holy, 
just, and good," the violation of which brings on results 
more terrible than we are willing to admit. 

II. It is readily admitted that the transgression of natu- 
ral and civil \2c^ is justly followed hy punishment ; nor do the 
most skeptical as to punishment, as taught in the Bible, 
ever complain of injustice in this. While it is fully ad- 
mitted that "the wages of sin is death," both in our nat- 



go THE LIVING PULPIT. 



ural and civil relations, the human heart is slow to believe 
the same thing true of the moral law. Man does not wish 
to believe a bad account of his future, and this may be 
the reason why the Savior occupied three times as much 
space in describing the condition of Dives as in describ- 
ing that of Lazarus. Also in Deuteronomy ^Sth, nearly 
four times as many verses are required to tell of the curses 
as of the blessings. . It is pleasanter to believe in heaven 
than in hell. 

That the transgressor of moral law should feel the con- 
sequence as expressed in the compunction of conscience 
in this life is not often denied, but that the results of 
conduct here should extend to worlds unseen is a con- 
viction by no means well settled in the minds of many. 
Whatever may be the nature, intensity, and duration of 
future punishment, one thing must be admitted : that 
the value and the necessity of the death of our Savior are 
to be strictly measured thereby. If he died to save us 
from an hour's pain, we should feel somewhat obliged to 
him. If his death should deliver us from a life-long 
threatened torture of mind and body, we should be very 
grateful, but could scarcely for that be bound to him 
through eternal cycles, to serve him and love him with 
every thought and emotion of our whole being. But if 
he saved me "from so great a death," from the "worm 
that never dies," from the fire unquenchable, from the 
"left hand," and from hell, then will I sing 

"Love so amazing, so divine. 
Demands my soul, my life, my all." 

If my sin had incurred the intensest sorrows of the 
mind, the fraClure of every bone, the crushing of every 
muscle, and the rupture of every blood-vessel, and if this 



THOMAS MUNNELL. 9I 



were to be endured for threescore years and ten before 
my rest should come, even then the death of our Sacrifice 
would not have been absolutely '' necessary," for time 
would bring me through. But the history of Dives and 
Lazarus turns heaven and hell both inside out, and re- 
veals the fearful truth that no emigrant ever came out of 
hell to heaven. The gulf is fixed; the damned can never 
be redeemed, and, blessed be God ! the redeemed can 
never now be damned. "■' He that is holy will now be 
holy still, and he that is righteous shall be righteous still;" 
but it is equally and fearfully true that " He that is un- 
just shall be unjust still, and he that is filthy shall be 
filthy still." The result of sin, then, is not temporary, 
but eternal, and our obligation to Jesus, therefore, is un- 
limited, and can only be discharged through endless years. 
The very beginning of all true conceptions of the doc- 
trine of atonement is found in a true conception of sin 
and its consequences. To underestimate the '^exceeding 
sinfulness of sin" is to underestimate the atonement or 
reconciliation to God. To suppose, also, that the conse- 
quences of sin are but trifling, destroys all faith in the 
necessity of the death of Christ. Hence all parties who, 
either wholly or partially, deny the do6lrine here being 
treated, will be found with conceptions more or less in- 
difl^erent as to the nature and condemnation of sin. If 
sin be a trifle, its efFeds can not be serious, sin itself can 
not be ** exceedingly sinful." The Savior, consequently, 
did but little for us in delivering us from it; our gratitude 
to him is, therefore, weak, and all our notions of the worth 
of the ''unspeakable gift" are brought low. As no pa- 
tient can feel very grateful to a physician for relief admin- 
istered if he thought himself in no great danger, so our 
cheap convidions of sin and its fearful work upon the 



92 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



soul destroy our gratitude and love and faith in Jesus. 
Our sins seem small, rather innocent, and very pardon- 
able. Being so small as to escape our eyes blinded in 
their favor, we conclude they escape the eye of God. But 
Paul has said : " Though I am conscious of no fault in 
myself, yet am I not hereby justified, for he that judgeth 
me is the Lord." Our not perceiving our little sins 
does not prove their absence from us; for David prays, 
"Cleanse thou me from secret faults" — the smallest, 
most hidden, and most insidious faults — for the animal- 
cule will in time become leviathan, and the insed: sins of 
this life will rise like mountains before us in the next. 

Once more before leaving this point — for here the real 
difficulty lies. Men would readily accept Christ if they 
were convinced of the wickedness and deep damnation of 
sin. They are fond of believing that sin has no eternal 
consequences ; that its wounds will all heal up by the re- 
cuperative force of the soul itself, without the aid of a 
Savior; that it will amount to some inconvenience truly, 
but even that for no great length of time. "These shall 
go into everlasting punishment" is not a very palatable 
saying, but is an exceedingly "faithful saying, and worthy 
of all acceptation," or else Jesus Christ had no great er- 
rand into this world. He came to save us from some 
thing, or there is no Savior. His greatness as a Redeemer 
is measured by the greatness of the danger from which he 
redeemed us, and when we believe that he saved us from 
"everlasting punishment," we feel that he has wrought 
out "eternal redemption for us." 

Who can prove that the soul will repent and get rid of 
sin beyond the grave? Dives was still an unbeliever in 
the power of God's word after death, and thought the 
spirit or ghost of Lazarus would have much more influ- 



THOMAS MUNNELL. 93 



ence with his five brethren than would Moses and the 
prophets. Besides, if a man will in this life break over 
all the barriers placed in his way to hell, is it not reason- 
able to suppose that after death, when public opinion, 
self-resped, and Gospel influences can no longer operate, 
his speed in sin will be accelerated rather than retarded? 
Sin, then, will remain in the soul, in the will, for evermore; 
and if sin be the prime cause of pain, the pain itself must 
be eternal. The flesh will feel the thorn as long as the 
thorn is in the flesh, and the dnly redemption from the 
pain is redemption from the thorn, and the only redemp- 
tion from death spiritual will be found in salvation from 
sin, the sting of death. Now, Jesus undertakes to de- 
liver man from sin by his atoning blood, that death may 
have no sting, and that we may be saved from its eternal 
consequences. To show on what principles he proposes 
to accomplish this great salvation shall be our purpose in 
the pages following, that we, each one, may see 

What Jesus Christ " has done for me 

Before I drew my breath. 
What pain, what labor to secure 

My soul from endless death." 

III. An impression has been spread wide in the public 
mind implying that God the Father has always been hard 
to persuade to pardon the sinner, and that it is only after 
long and hard pleading on the part of our Advocate that he 
consents to our release. Poets have worked it into their 
rhymes, and pulpit orators have made it the pabulum 
of pathos, but the Bible teaches precisely the opposite. 
"God so loved the world;" '*We love him because he 
first loved us;" "In this the love of God was mani- 
fested ;" and many other passages, demonstrate his willing- 



94 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



ness to forgive as soon as it could be done on principles 
that would not involve the destrudlion of moral govern- 
ment. If a civil ruler pardon one who truly deserves 
punishment, he is as unjust as if he were to punish an 
innocent person, for justice consists in treating each one 
just as he deserves. When man had sinned, the problem 
was to ascertain how he might be pardoned, and yet not 
impugn the justice of God. If man receives his dues, 
mercy is "clear gone forever," but if he be pardoned, 
how can it be reconciled with justice, which demands his 
punishment ? This was a problem which no human gov- 
ernor had ever been able to solve. 

In the days of the Roman consuls, it is said that a cer- 
tain commander, named Brutus, had his army drawn up 
in form of battle just before the enemy, who confronted 
the whole length of his lines. Brutus commanded his 
men not to accept a challenge from the foe to single com- 
bat to decide the issues of the day; and knowing how 
hard it was for his soldiers to be mocked for cowardice, 
he denounced the penalty of death upon any one who 
should violate this order. Soon a strong man came for- 
ward into the middle space between the two armies, and 
bantered the stoutest Roman that ever handled a sword 
or hurled a spear. And after indulging the usual brag- 
gadocio and insult for their seeming cowardice for a long 
time, the martial spirit of one of the sons of Brutus was 
so stung and aroused by his abusive language that he 
rushed into the midst, accepting the challenge, fought a 
terrible duel, slew the enemy, stripped him of his armor, 
won the day for his countrymen, and returned amid the 
shouts of all his comrades in arms. But a certain sad- 
ness soon settled over the countenances of all. A military 
order had been disobeyed. The ad: could not be ignored 



THOMAS MUNNELL. 95 



with safety. Army discipline, army efFeftiveness, and 
consequently national safety, would all be imperiled by 
passing over this disobedience of martial law. A father's 
heart cried out for mercy; military necessity demanded 
justice. Had Brutus spared his son, he could not have 
punished the son of any other man, and this would have 
disorganized and demoralized his whole army, and given 
up the whole nation a prey to the enemy. He resolved 
that the nation should see that he who spared not his 
own son would spare no one else, and that strid: obe- 
dience in the army was indispensable to the safety of all. 
Here was a governmental difficulty involving a contest 
between justice and mercy, in which justice took the lead, 
Decause no arrangement could be made securing the exer- 
cise of both. The question with Brutus was, how he 
could be just, and still show mercy to his son, which is 
the same principle involved in the salvation of sinners. 
How can God be just, and yet the justifier of the unpun- 
ished offender? If justice be exacted, evey sinner will 
feel the bottom of perdition; if mercy prevail at the ex- 
pense of justice and the law, it would ruin the universe, 
for all intelligences would see the weakness and unright- 
eousness of the supreme government, and other angels 
might be found unwilling to '* keep their first estate." 
God must preserve his rule, must magnify his law, and 
make it honorable before all angels and all men. 

I will not say that any illustration, drawn from the 
governments of men, can fully represent the point just 
now before us; but I will suppose a case, which I think 
will explain some of the principles involved in the doc- 
trine of atonement through Jesus Christ. Suppose ten 
thousand subjeds of the English Crown should rise in 
sedition and rebellion against the lawful authority ; that 



g6 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



they have been tried, convided, and sentenced to banish- 
ment to St. Helena for ten years. The government 
would gladly pardon them, were it safe to. do so. But 
the law must be respeded; sin must be punished before 
all, that others also may fear; and while mercy pleads in 
the heart of the executive, justice demands the penalty of 
violated law. Now, it is plainly impossible for English 
law, or any other /aw, to show mercy, for ''lawworketh 
wrath." When Darius had signed a decree that threw 
Daniel into the lions' den, and yet desired to save him 
from the penalty of that law, he '* labored till the going 
down of the sun" to harmonize the working of justice 
and mercy — to save his favored Daniel, and yet preserve 
his law — but failing in this, the law must take its course, 
and the penalty be felt in all its force. So, in the absence 
of what Mr. Jenkins calls an "expedient," the ten thou- 
sand must bear their own reward. But, lo ! an expedient 
is suggested, a substitute, one that will suffer in their 
stead. Who must he be ? One of the guilty party ? 
They must each one suffer for their own sins, and have 
no merit to spare for others. Will the banishment of a 
common subject of the government, although an innocent 
one, meet the emergency ! Such would not be '' found 
worthy," for his punishment would call no attention suf- 
ficient to satisfy an account with the whole empire. But 
if a son from the throne, the Prince, will come forward, 
not only innocent as a lamb of any political offense, but 
governmentally worthy to be a substitute, and will, through 
love for these offenders, offer to endure the ten years' ex- 
ile in their stead, the government may, without the least 
fear of losing its proper tone and authority with the peo- 
ple, accept the noble substitute, and remit the penalty of 
the transgressors. The Prince, remember, is not in jus- 



THOMAS MUNNELL. 97 



tice bound to do this, but in compassion for his future sub- 
jects he kindly makes the offer. The government is not 
bound to accept him as a substitute, and to release them; 
but being from the first anxious to deliver them, and now 
seeing a way in which it may be done, in pity for the 
convids, and in the grandest admiration of their noble 
Prince, the system of mercy is agreed to, and carried into 
effed. 

The Prince returns from his exile amid the acclamations 
of the whole nation, who are ready to crown him Lord of 
all. In due time he is coronated king of the realm. He 
has not only won the admiration of all the people, but 
the love, unbounded love, of the ten thousand who, if 
not dead to every noble impulse, will be the most loyal 
subjedls of his empire; because, no sooner had the new 
king ascended his throne, than he announced himself as 
their ransom, having fully paid, in his own person, the 
debt they owed; and now, upon certain terms honorable 
both to him and them, he is ready to proclaim their par- 
don. But if any portion of them, ungrateful for all he 
has done for them, will now refuse to have him '^ reign 
over them," what will be their political status in the eyes 
of all the world ? Can they be forgiven ? Was the ex- 
ile of the Prince alone sufficient to reinstate them vv^ithout 
an humble recognition of the proffered mercy, and a grate- 
ful acceptance of it ? Are not their cordial services due 
to their benefactor? Their original offense was grievous 
enough, but if that is to be emphasized by this basest 
of all ingratitude, it would double the aggregate of their 
guilt. If they refuse this arrangement for pardon, will 
any one else try to save them ? Will there ''remain any 
more sacrifice" for their political offenses? Or will it not 
be rather a "fearful looking- for" the execution of the 



98 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



penalty of sin now exceedingly aggravated by this meanest 
exhibition of heartless ingratitude ? 

The parallel intended is easy, and does not require 
me to name at length the points already made luminous 
enough by the figure just used. Jesus is our Prince. He 
volunteered his humiliation to redeem our souls from 
hell. He returned from the grave to the throne, and 
issued his proclamation of pardon to all for whom he 
died: "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." . 
He ditd for us, instead of us, in place of us, "bore our 
sins in his own body on the tree," " took our infirmities, 
and bare our sicknesses," " by his stripes we are healed," 
so that whoever now "believeth on him shall not perish, 
but have everlasting life." The Divine government will 
not now suffer loss when allowing the sinner mercifully 
to pass unpunished, for when Jesus had become legally re- 
sponsible for the sins of the world, even he was not al- 
lowed to escape the penalty. Even though in the days 
of his flesh he, in Gethsemane, "offered up prayers and 
supplications with strong crying and tears," the "cup 
could not pass from him." Surely, " he that spared not 
his own son," who was but legally responsible for sin, will 
spare no other one who is both legally and morally amen- 
able to a broken law. Sin must be punished, whether the 
substitute or the original offender be responsible for it. 
If the sinner accept the substitute, he may be forgiven, 
and in that case both mercy and justice are satisfied. The 
demands of the law were met, in the Prince, in a way that 
secures the stability of government, which is now enabled 
to exercise the desired mercy with safety. If the sinner 
accept not the sacrifice made for him, he becomes respon- 
sible for all his sins in his own person; for no prince could 
pardon a subjed who would not even recognize the mercy 



THOMAS MUNNELL. 99 



sought to be conferred upon him. Atonement, then, is 
simply reconciliation to God, effeded as soon as pardon 
is conferred upon the sinner; and this is done by every 
merciful governor as soon as it can be done with safety 
to the government, the adlual realization of pardon being 
dependent both upon the control of the governmental dif- 
ficulty and also upon the acceptance of the terms of free- 
dom by the offender. 

Ten years* banishment may be sufficient punishment 
for certain crimes committed against the State; and this 
has induced some to conclude that moral evil may also 
be worn out by time and by personal suffering, without 
the death of Christ. But it must be patent to every fair 
thinker, that after the civil punishments have been ex- 
hausted, the moral obliquity of the criminal may be the 
same as before. The civil law never takes away the stain 
of moral guilt, but leaves the offender to settle that ac- 
count with his God and Judge; for no lacerations of the 
body, nor sorrows of the mind, nor inflidlion of civil pen- 
alties can ever atone for sin. 

"Could my tears forever flow. 
Could my zeal no languor know, 
-^This for sin could not atone. 
Thou must save, and Thou alone." 

Could our own sufferings, either in this world or in 
limbo, or in purgatory, or in hell, as some believe and 
teach, dispose of our sins, then would heaven at last be 
won, not by the Savior, but by our own powers of endur- 
ance ; then is Jesus Christ no Savior in any sense, for 
whoever suffers for all his sins is not saved from sin by 
Jesus, or by any one else. If you owe a relentless creditor 
a thousand pounds, and instead of granting your prayer, 



lOO THE LIVING PULPIT. 



as an insolvent debtor, for forgiveness of the debt, he 
compel you '' to be sold, your wife, and your children, 
and all that you have, and payment to be made," could 
it be said that you were saved from the debt ? No more 
can Jesus be called our Savior if we must suffer out our 
own demerits. Then is the world without mercy, Christ 
a mere pretender, and sinners left to count unnumbered 
years in pain. The duration of this must be measured by 
the continuance of sin in the soul. As long as disease is in 
the body we must be sick, and as long as sin unrepented 
of and unforgiven remains in the soul, be that a million 
years, the sting of death will still be felt. Forgiveness 
and cleansing from all unrighteousness are promised in 
this life to all who obey the Gospel. Now, if there be 
any assurance of mercy beyond the grave, in what chap- 
ter and verse may it be found? Jesus said to the Jews: 
" Ye shall die in your sins, and where I am ye can not 
come;" from which it is plainly inferable that if a man 
die in sin, his condition is fixed forever. And this har- 
monizes with Abraham's language to Dives : " Between 
us and you there is a great gulf fixed;'' they can not pass 
from you to us. Besides these fearful intimations of the 
^' wrath to come," it is said, in the last chapter of Revela- 
tion, after the judgment is past, " the righteous saved, 
the wicked damned, and God's eternal government ap- 
proved," ''He that is filthy let him be filthy still, he that 
is unjust let him be unjust still," stereotyped in sin for- 
ever. Some one has thrown Solomon's faithful saying 
into verse: 

" Just as the tree, cut down, that fell 

Northward or southward, there it lies ; 
So man departs to heaven or hell. 
Fixed in the state in which he dies." 



THOMAS MUNNELL. lOI 



The fabled Gorgon head was said to have power to pet- 
rify every one who ventured to look upon its horrid face. 
Some artist, trying to represent this idea upon the can- 
vas, drew a thief who had happened to turn his eye upon 
the Gorgon just while in the act of stealing, and, lo ! with 
his hand upon his neighbor's purse, he was horrified into 
a solid statue, petrified in his guilt. Death will stereo- 
type every sinner, for then the seed-time will be gone, the 
summer ended, and the fixedness of the eternal state be 
realized. The certainty, then, that some ''will go away 
into everlasting punishment," should alarm the stoutest 
heart and pale the bravest sinner as he flies on to the bar 
of God. But to avert the unfathomable woe, and turn 
the curse away, Jesus "was made a curse for us." 

"To shame our sins he blushed in blood. 
He closed his eyes to show us God," 

dwelt among the dead that we might be forever with the 
living; for by his atoning blood we are reconciled to God, 
justice is content, the law is highly magnified, while mercy 
and full forgiveness are proffered to all ; for '' He that 
believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that be- 
lieveth not shall be damned." 

Lord, help thy poor servants to preach this Gospel with 
holy zeal and quenchless love, that sinners may be saved 
from the wrath to come, and thy great name be glorified 
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 




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LEWIS L. PINKERTON. 



T EWIS L. PINKERTON was born in Baltimore County, Maryland. 
-*— ' January 28th, 181 2. His paternal grandparents were Irish ; his ma- 
ternal, German. In the winter of 1821, when Lewis was in his tenth 
year, his father settled in Brooke County, West Va., having previously 
moved from Maryland to Chester County, Penn., the place of his nativity. 
Ten years of the son's life were spent among the romantic hills of West 
Virginia. Those years, as he says himself, were full of "incessant, hard, 
ill-requited toil ; " but they were useful in developing in him the virtue, 
self-reliance, and fidelity to principle which have ever since chara6terized 
him. 

He was trained in the Presbyterian faith, but becoming perplexed with 
the dodrine of "the Decrees" as taught in the ** Shorter Catechism," 
and having carefully studied the Word of God, he was, in 1830, baptized 
under the personal ministry of Alexander Campbell. 

In 1831 he left West Virginia, and, after visiting several localities, set- 
tled in Trenton, Butler County, Ohio. Here he engaged in teaching a 
common school, and in the study and praftice of medicine. He was mar- 
ried in 1833, and in 1835 attended a course of leftures in the Medical 
College of Ohio, at Cincinnati. In 1836 he removed to Carthage, Ohio, 
then, and for some years later, the place of residence of the lamented 
Walter Scott. He continued to study and praftice medicine till May, 
1838, when he gave up his profession, in which he had been quite suc- 
cessful, and began to preach the Gospel. 

He at once entered upon his new calling, with energy and success. 
During the years 1838, 1839, ^^^ 1840, he traveled almost constantly, 
preaching the glad tidings to thousands, and witnessing the baptism of a 
great number of converts. In 1841 he removed to Lexington, Ky., and 
took charge of the Church in that city. During the winter of the same 
year he attended a course of lectures in the Medical Department of 
Transylvania University, and received the degree of M. D. He resigned 
his connection with the Church in Lexington in the fall of 1843, and 
spent the remainder of that year, and the greater part of the next, in 

(103) 



104 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



preaching and soliciting subscriptions for Bacon College, located at Har- 
odsburg, Ky. He removed to Midway, Ky., in the spring of 1845, 
where he taught a successful Female Academy, with only occasional and 
slight assistance, until the summer of 1851. Meantime he conceived the 
idea of a Female Orphan School, and communicated his plans to J. Ware 
Parish, a noble Christian gentleman, who at once took hold of the enter- 
prise with the warmest zeal. In the winter of 1846—47 a charter was 
obtained from the Legislature of Kentucky, and the Orphan School lo- 
cated at Midway was put into successful operation. 

The establishment of this school may be regarded as one oi the most 
important events in Dr. Pinkerton's career. It was his own conception; 
and to him, more than to any other man, are the Disciples in Kentucky 
indebted for this magnificent monument of Christian liberality. 

From 1851 to i860 he was principally engaged in preaching and teach- 
ing. The churches at Versailles, Paris, and Midway were those for which 
he labored most of this time, and at all these points he was eminently suc- 
cessful. 

In 1 860 he removed to Harrodsburg, having been elefted to the chair 
of Belles-Lettres and Political Science in Kentucky University. When 
the University was removed to Lexington, he rem.oved also to that city, 
which is the place of his residence at this time. In February, 1866, he 
resigned his professorship in the University, and has since been preaching at 
various points. He delivered a course of leftures at Hiram the present year. 

Besides being a successful preacher and teacher, the Doctor is one of 
the most accomplished writers in the ranks of the Disciples. In 1848 he 
edited and published the ** Christian Mirror." In 1851 he was senior ed- 
itor of the ** Ecclesiastic Reformer." In 1 853-54 he edited the Kentucky 
Department of the *' Christian Age;" and, in 1844-45 the "New Era," a 
weekly newspaper, the organ of the Sons of Temperance in Kentucky. 

During his life he has been offered the Presidency of several colleges, 
but has uniformly declined, because |he never considered his scholarship 
equal to such a position. To use his own style, he is an educated rndint 
but not a scholar. Nevertheless, his scholarship is quite respedlable, such 
as a man of less modesty would regard sufficient for any of the places to 
which he has been called. 

Both as a writer and speaker, his style is very original. His imagination 
is chaste, though somewhat tinged with an autumn sadness. His logical 
powers are above mediocrity, and his thoughts always fresh and vigorous. He 
is distinguished for great independence of charafter, and, on this account, his 
aftions are not always well understood. He is thoroughly conscientious, 
and possesses, in a high degree, a generous, sympathetic, and forgiving nature. 



JESUS THE FIRST AND THE LAST. 



BY L. L. PINKERTON. 



''What think ye of Christ?" — Matt, xxii : 42. 

THE science of Christianity, Theology, whether or- 
thodox or heterodox, will not, at any time this side 
the Millennium, become the possession of any considera- 
ble number of those who ''profess religion," not even of 
those whose lives are shaped and controlled by it. Ninety- 
nine of every hundred who are to be saved, if saved at 
all, "by the grace of God," shall not fully comprehend 
the methods of that grace. The very great majority of 
men and women are poor, and from all we can now see, 
are likely to remain so. They can not have time, there- 
fore, for theological studies, nor can they possess the 
mental training which such studies must ever require. 
The minister of Christ strangely mistakes, then, who 
treats the men, women, and children that meet him in 
the house of prayer as though they were students of 
theology, before whom he is to discuss ''dodrlnes" — 
dodrines which he himself but feebly apprehends, after 
years of careful study. He mistakes still more fatally, 
if he shall persuade himself that these dodrines are the 
matters of Christian faith^ and that the salvation of sin- 
ners or of saints Is involved In the understanding of 



Io6 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



them. Jesus was, in all respeds, pre-eminently the 
Teacher; but he was not a teacher of dodrines ; he did 
not teach '^ systematic divinity." The poor people to 
whom Jesus spoke — the Marys and Marthas, the pub- 
licans and sinners, the rough men who caught fish in the 
sea of Galilee, and the plain women who sold the fish 
in the neighboring villages, the small artificers, the shep- 
herds and the vine-dressers of Galilee — would have made 
nothing of the debatable dodrines of our modern Chris- 
tianity. If a clear apprehension, not to say comprehen- 
sion, of what are called '^ the dodrines of the Bible," is, 
indeed, essential to salvation, may we not pertinently and 
sorrowfully ask. Who, then, can he saved ? It is strange 
that this quite radical mistake as to the real obje6ls of 
Christian faith should have been perpetuated so long, 
seeing that those most devoted to the maintenance of 
*' orthodox views," as being essential to "vital godliness," 
can not get forward in the work of the ministry without 
involving themselves in perpetual and practical contra- 
didions. As thus : Grave and learned ministers, after 
years of patient and laborious preparation and study, 
will discuss before their congregations the most recondite 
principles of the Divine government, the most perplexing 
problems ever submitted to the contemplation of man- 
kind, and earnestly, and even vehemently, insist that the 
conclusions they may have reached in regard to these dif- 
ficult themes contain the truth of God ; that these con- 
clusions are necessary to "true and saving faith;" and 
yet these same ministers will receive into the Church 
men, women, and children — perhaps their own wives, 
and children, and servants — not one in fifty of whom has 
the slightest conception of the do5irines in question ! Alas ! 
one is tempted to exclaim, when will this great folly of 



L. L. PINKERTON. 107 



preaching philosophy, instead of preaching Jesus, come 
to an end ? But few of God's people seem to be aware 
that the misapprehension as to the real objeds of faith, 
from which this strangely inconsistent procedure springs, 
lies at the foundation of nearly all the divisions that now 
distrad and alienate the Protestant families; in fad, that 
the Protestant parties, with few exceptions, were born of 
the misapprehensiofh These sad divisions will not be 
healed; nay, they must increase in number till this quite 
radical misconception is corredted. We are cheered and 
comforted by the hope that, even now, the much-needed 
correction is in the way of being effeded; and our present 
discourse is designed to aid, in some small degree, to bring 
on the day of Renovation, when, as in the beginning, there 
shall be but one flock, as there is but one Shepherd. No 
objedion ought to be raised against the discussion of any 
question that may fairly arise out of the Divine testimo- 
nies. Let these questions be discussed, then, by those 
who may have taste and talent for such discussions; dis- 
cussed in books and periodicals, by the fire-side and in 
lyceums; but let us not elevate our reasonings into Divine 
oracles, and make them causes of strifes and divisions 
among the people of God — the foundations of warring, 
antagonistic seds. 

A knowledge of religion, as a science, is not more neces- 
sary to salvation than is a knowledge of geology, min- 
eralogy, botany, physiology, and chemistry, to farming and 
gardening. As men manage, by a knowledge of simple 
fads, to cause the earth to yield her increase, and as they 
live without any knowledge of the processes of digestion 
and assimilation, even so may the poor and the unedu- 
cated hear, believe, and obey *' the glorious Gospel of 
the blessed God," and rejoice in ''the great salvation," 



io8 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



without having heard any thing whatever on the subjedl 
of Total Hereditary Depravity, Imputed Righteousness, 
Effeftual Calling, the mode in which the Holy Spirit op- 
erates in conversion, the "dodrine'* of the Trinity, or 
its opposite, or, indeed, on any other of the vexed ques- 
tions that have originated and that perpetuate religious 
parties. Do we mistake utterly ? If not, then is it true 
that an overwhelming majority of all who are brought to 
God by the preaching of the Gospel, even in the most en- 
lightened communities, know only that they are sinners; 
that they ought to be holy in heart and in life; that they 
are helpless ; that they are disquieted, and fearful, and mis- 
erable. They believe that God has pitied and loved them ; 
that Jesus died for their sins ; that God will forgive them 
for Christ's sake; that he will comfort and sustain them 
through life; and that he will take them to a glorious home 
in heaven finally, if they live and die in Jesus. And these, 
we may add, remain the chief articles of their creed through 
life; these and similar simple truths, apprehended with a 
clearness and force, varied by difference in temperament 
and culture. 

To pursue the train of thought we are In yet a little 
further. Let any one competent to do so, set himself to 
ascertain the amount and kind of '' dodrinal" knowledge 
possessed by any congregation of Christians of average 
general intelligence and of average piety. Beginning with 
the creation, let him pass leisurely over the four thousand 
years of Old Testament history and prophesy. He will 
see what the merchants, farmers, mechanics, their wives 
and children, the clerks, shop-boys, and the women of 
the various handicrafts, know about "Cosmogony,*' the 
Science of the Deluge; what ideas, are entertained of the 
wonderful and astounding providences of God, as dis- 



L. L. PINKERTON. 109 



played in his dealings with the Patriarchs, with the 
Egyptians, with Israel during their journey to Canaan, 
with the same people under their judges and their kings, 
and with the idolatrous nations with which the people 
of Israel came into conflid. The examiner will, doubt- 
less, ^nd faith enough in all that is written, so far as the 
record has been read and remembered ; but he will find, 
also, that to the vast majority, the things revealed have 
but a shadowy, misty existence, and that, except in rare 
instances, generalization has not been even so much as 
thought of; in no instance quite satisfadorily accom- 
plished. Let the same course be pursued with New 
Testament revelations, the objed: being to determine with 
exactness the "views" entertained by the masses on the 
subjeds of debate among Protestant Christians. He will 
find beautiful, all-conquering faith, triumphant hope, and 
love and joy that pass understanding, but very little 
'* Theology" — none, in fad. Decided partisans will have 
at hand a few " proof texts," which they will quote at 
random, and often incorrectly ; a few will remember de- 
finitions and dodrines which they learned from catechisms 
in childhood, and of which they understood as much at 
ten years of age as they now understand at thirty. Ah, 
well, sinners are saved by grace, through faith, and this 
faith has for its oh]^^s persons and fa£fs^ not 'Modrines," 
not dogmas, not scientific formulas. 

The knowledge absolutely essential to salvation takes 
its range far within the limits of the whole revelation of 
God, and yet we believe he has not spoken one word 
in vain. So we believe he has not made any thing in 
vain, although the wisest naturalist fails to apprehend the 
uses of thousands of obje6ls that offer themselves to his 
contemplation. 



no THE LIVING PULPIT. 



In the attempt to unfold, in part, the theme ofour pres- 
ent meditation, we shall assume that Jesus understood his 
own religion — that he knew in what resped:s the human 
race was wrong in the sight of God, and the means by 
which the wrong was to be corrected — that he knew, ab- 
solutely and completely, all that men ought to believe 
and to do in order to justification, regeneration, salva- 
tion — that he taught the essential truths of his religion, 
and illustrated its principles of adlion in his own life. We 
shall find that, in the apprehension of the Savior, the faith, 
love, and obedience which his religion requires, have re- 
sfeEi to himself. 

I. Christianity meets us first, and, perhaps, at the last, 
not as a theory, not as a series of dodrines, not as truth 
expressed in scientific formulae; but — and blessed be God 
that it is so — as a history., a biography — the history of a 
life and of a death, of a burial and of a resurrediion, and 
of an ascension into heaven. To the hearer or reader of 
that most wonderful, simple, but sublime story, the single 
question is asked: "What think you of Christ?" Every 
thing, in the religion of Jesus, turns on the answer that 
may be given to this far-reaching inquiry. We need not 
stop to ask nor to answer the quite difficult questions 
that speculative and ingenious minds may raise concern- 
ing the freedom of the will, the decrees of God, the -phi- 
losophy of the Atonement, the mode of the Divine exist- 
ence, the plenary inspiration of Scriptures. On these, 
and similar subjedls, good and great men have differed in 
opinion for sixteen hundred years, and are likely to differ 
for sixteen hundred more. '' What think you of Christ ? " 

II. The question which constitutes our text is, so to 
speak, a "fair question;" that is, it is one that every in- 
telligent being to whom the story of Jesus is submitted, 



L. L. PINKERTON. Ill 



ought to feel bound to answer. If the fa6ts and statements 
of the four Gospels are taken together, and in their plain, 
most obvious import, no analysis or generalization is 
required. The essential truth lies on the surface. It has 
resped to a person^ and not to a dodrine, we repeat, with 
emphasis. Multiplied thousands of the best men and 
women on earth this day, if asked, What do you think of 
the dodrine of predestination? of the Trinity? of Uni- 
tarianism ? of eledion ? would hesitate to answer — would 
feel themselves wholly unable to answer, but who would, 
nevertheless, even die for Jesus's sake, if challenged to 
do so. Shall Protestants evermore refuse to learn from 
the Word of God, from the history of religious contro- 
versy, and from their own observation, the folly — shall we 
say it? — of attempting to unite the people of God in the 
belief of "speculative divinity?" 

That we shall meet with mysteries in the New Testa- 
ment, is cheerfully conceded. The central being in the 
whole revelation of God, even Jesus Christy our Lord^ is 
" a great mystery.'' And here we must be indulged in a 
passing remark on the controversies that for fifteen cen- 
turies have been waged between Trinitarians and Unita- 
rians. These sad controversies seem to us to consist, for 
the most part, of unintelligible jargon, of a childish and 
absurd balancing of texts of Scripture, and of attempts to 
force from stubborn fads and plain declarations more than 
they contain, or to lessen their obvious signification. And, 
after all, do not the greatest and best men on both sides 
of the controversy admit that the relations of Jesus con- 
stitute a necessary and an ineffably glorious mystery ? Why, 
then, make attempted explanations of that which is inex- 
plicable, the basis of Christian fraternization? Why not 
admit the ^^ great mystery of godliness^ God manifest in the 



112 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



flesh,'' and then affirm and teach all that the divine testi- 
monies declare of the nature, relations, offices, and work of 
the Lord Jesus? We so deal with other mysteries of rev- 
elation, why not with this, perhaps, the greatest mystery 
of them all ? 

We would speak with caution and with unaffedled dif- 
fidence, and yet it does appear to us that neither the Trin- 
itarian nor the Unitarian formulae can be made to include 
all the phenomena of the case. The earnest student of 
"the record that God has given of his Son,'' as he reads 
and ponders, will say of Jesus, "this is, indeed, ^the son 
of man,' my near kinsman, and yet he is ' Immanuel, God 
with us;' this is 'the Christ, the Son of God and the Sav- 
ior of the world.' I can believe all this, and stake eternal 
issues on it, but I can not explain it. It is matter of faith, 
not of philosophy. I believe it because it is sustained by 
ample testimony, not because I am able to classify and so 
bring into scientific order all the fads and declarations that 
set forth the nature of One who, as the Word, 'was in the 
beginning with God, and who was God,' but 'became flesh 
and dwelt among us,' and who will, in the end, 'deliver 
up the kingdom to God even the Father, and himself be 
subje^, that God may be all in all.' " Dogmatism on 
such a subjed, what ought to be said of it? Nothing 
here and now. Few sadder things have occurred in the 
history of the human race, than the divisions and bitter 
strifes among Christ's disciples, that have grown out of 
futile attempts to explain an unspeakable mystery; and 
the controversy may, we think, be fitly and indefinitely 
postponed. Within the circle of our own human sympa- 
thies, Jesus meets us, and weeps with us, and is "a man 
of sorrows," but we immediately perceive that his nature 
passes on beyond our nature, and over into the Infinite, 



L. L. PINKERTON. T 13 



and we not only trust without limit, but adore. "Who 
by searching can find out God? Who can know the Al- 
mighty to perfe^ion? " * 

They who, by faith, dwell in Immanuel's land, are 
like those who would inhabit a small island far out in mid- 
ocean. They have the glorious heavens over them; they 
live amid beauty, and verdure, and bloom, and fragrance, 
and fruit; their groves are vocal, and their fields yield a 
hundred-fold; they have all things richly to enjoy. But 
they have no line with which to take the soundings of 
the deep sea that surrounds them, and they can see but a 
little way out over the heaving waters. Beyond the line 
that bounds their vision all is mystery. Balmy breezes 
come to them across the deep, they know not whence, but 

* " He who dwells in infinity is at once a God who reveals and a God 
who conceals himself. We can know, but we can know only in part. The 
knowledge which we can attain is the clearest and yet the obscurest of all 
our knowledge. A child, a savage, can acquire a certain acquaintance with 
him, while neither sage nor angel can rise to a full comprehension of him. 
God may be truly described as the Being of whom we know the most, in- 
asmuch as his works are ever pressing themselves upon our attention, and 
we behold more of his ways than of the ways of any other; and yet he 
is the Being of whom we know the least, inasmuch as we know compara- 
tively less of his whole nature than we do of ourselves, or of our fellow- • 
men, or of any objedl falling under our senses. They who know the least 
of him have, in this, the most valuable of all knowledge; they who know 
the most know but little, after all, of his glorious perfeftions. Let us prize 
what knowledge we have, but feel, meanwhile, that our knowledge is com- 
parative ignorance. They who know little of him may feel as if they knew 
much ; they who know much will always feel that they know but little. 
The most limited knowledge of him should be felt to be precious, but this 
mainly as an encouragement to seek knowledge higher and yet higher, with- 
out limit and without end. They who in earth or heaven know the most, 
know that they know but little after all ; but they know that they may 
know more and more of him throughout eternal ages." — McCoshy *^ Intui- 
tions of the Mind.^* 
8 



114 1'HE LIVING PULPIT. 



they are full of health and fragrance. Shall they dwell 
together in peace and love, and enjoy together the varied 
beauties and bounties of their island home? or shall they 
quarrel and strive endlessly about what may be the depth 
of the surrounding sea, and what may be beyond it ? It 
were well could God's people remember always that now 
we see through a glass darkly, that we know but in part, 
that we walk by faith. In religion, faith is philosophy; 
obedience, the perfedion of science. 

I. We propose now, by citing a few of the declarations 
made by the Savior concerning himself, to determine what 
were his own conceptions of his relations to the race he 
came to save. We say a few of these declarations, for 
Jesus spoke very often of himself ^ a circumstance which seems 
not to have received the attention its deep significance de- 
mands. 

I . Jesus claimed to be the teacher^ the leader^ and the guide 
of mankind. 

"Come to me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and 
I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn 
of me^ for I am meek and lowly of heart, and you shall 
find rest to your souls.'' (Matt, xi.) In this declaration, 
this most affedling invitation, of the beauty and gracious- 
ness of which we are not able to speak, Jesus certainly 
makes himself the first and the last. Is it not singular 
that though the Savior so often speaks of himself, yet 
nothing he says has the appearance of egotism? "Never 
man spake as he spake." The sentences above quoted 
are every way most wonderful, if we well consider them. 
Here is a very poor and very friendless young man, who 
had been brought up in an obscure village of Galilee, 
proverbial for the meanness of its general circumstances, 
declaring that he had not where to lay his head, yet pro- 



L. L. PINKERTON. II5 

posing to give rest to the souls of the laboring and heavy 
laden, if they would come to him and learn of him. Let 
us try clearly to apprehend the peculiarity of the case. 
Suppose an uneducated, poor, and friendless young man, 
from one of our obscure, disreputable, out-of-t le-way 
towns, were to come here to Lexington, Kentucky, in one 
of these passing weeks, and gathering about him some 
hundreds of poor men and women, should propose to give 
them rest to their weary, disquieted souls, what would be 
thought of him ? He would be regarded as an amiable, 
sorrowful lunatic^ and some humane person would have 
him placed in an asylum. But Jesus was not a lunatic. / 
defy you to think so. And if not, then is he all that he claimed 
to be; then is he "the Son of the living God," and we are 
all of us on our way to his judgment-seat. ''If weak thy 
faith, why choose the harder side } '* '' What think you of 
Christ?" 

2. Jesus proposed himself as the obje^l of the faith by 
which sinners are to be saved. 

^'God gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes 
in him might not perish, but have everlasting life. Verily 
I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting 
life. This is the work of God, that you believe on him, 
whom he hath sent. The Messiah cometh which is called 
Christ : Jesus said unto her, / that speak to thee am he. 
Jesus said unto him. Dost thou believe on the Son of 
God? He it is that talketh with thee." There is some- 
thing in this constant recurrence of the Great Teacher to 
himself that demands our closest attention. No one, as 
before observed, can regard this as egotism. Every reader 
of the New Testament /^(?/j that it behooved Jesus thus 
to press his claims. The world could not be saved by 
philosophers. It needed that One of infinite perfections 



Il6 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



should dwell among us and show us the Father — one 
whom all can trust without limit, in whom they can be- 
lieve ''with all the heart." Though Jesus was, indeed, 
''meek and lowly of heart," and though he had not where 
to lay his head, yet, whenever he would win the heart of 
man to holiness and to God, he spoke of himself as being 
the objedl of faith. 

3. As Jesus proposes himself as the object of faith, so 
he constitutes himself the subje^ of the confession of faith. 

Under circumstances of extreme personal peril, Jesus 
"witnessed a good confession," and he was himself the 
subjed: of it. "The high-priest asked him. Art thou the 
Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus answered, I 
am." (Markxiv.) Wonder not, then, that he requires the 
same confession from all who would hope in his mercy. 
"Whosoever, therefore, shall confess me before men, him 
will I confess also before my Father who is in heaven ; 
but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also 
deny before my Father who is in heaven." (Matt, x.) This 
makes the controversy which Jesus has with the human 
race not a dodlrinal, but a personal controversy, so to 
speak, and it becomes infinitely serious. Men may not 
be obliged to accept any given interpretations of a chap- 
ter in the letter to the Romans, or in the Apocalypse. 
The primary question is not concerning dodrines, but 
concerning Jesus. "Who do you say that I the son of 
man am ? Peter answered. Thou art the Christ, the Son 
of the living God. Blessed art thou, Simon ; on this 
rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall 
not prevail against it." It is blessed, then, to confess 
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God; and 
on this all-comprehensive truth Jesus builds his Church. 
Thus do we see that in the apprehension of the Redeemer 



L. L. PINKERTON. II7 



he is the subjed of the confession of Christian faith, and 
he has given us the form of words in which that confes- 
sion is to be made. Should any one object that the 
''form of sound words" in which "the good confession" 
is appointed to be made, is susceptible of various inter- 
pretations, our reply is: So is any form of words ^ and espe- 
cially any that the wisdom of man may devise. Indeed, 
from of old, on all the deeper things of God, theologians 
have found it needful to comment on their own commen- 
taries, and to explain their own explanations. "What 
think you of Christ.?" Is he, 'indeed, "the Son of the 
living God?" 

4. Jesus claimed for himself the supreme love of mankind. 

We are not here arguing that men ought to believe in 
Jesus, that they ought to confess and love him, but that 
he himself so taught. In all things he claims the pre- 
eminence. "He that loveth father or mother more than 
me, is not worthy of me, and he that loveth son or daugh- 
ter more than me, is not worthy of me." (Matt. X.) "If 
any man come to me, and (comparatively) hate not his 
father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, 
and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he can not be my 
disciple." (Luke xiv.) This is decisive on this point. 
Jesus must be first in the heart's affections, or he will not 
be there at all. And in this appointment of God does 
not a Divine philosophy shine forth upon us? What so 
powerfully and constantly controls human life as the love 
of friends, living or dead? How hopeless would be the 
prospe6ts of the human race if the duties of life were to 
be performed only under the guidance of moral philoso- 
phy! What philosophy could bind the mother, through 
days and nights of weariness, to the cradle of her helpless 
infant? What formula of duty wou'd nerve the arm of 



Ii8 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the poor father as he tolls ceaselessly, through the heats 
of summer and the frosts of winter, that his home may- 
be one of comfort? Love is more than dogma, more than 
philosophy. The wayward youth, far from the home of his 
innocent childhood, still remembers the tender accents of 
a mother's or a sister's voice, and weeps. They incessantly 
call him away from his follies and his crimes, and, from 
beyond the grave, they invite him to the Fountain opened 
for sin. These sad, sweet memories of the loved and lost 
are often more powerful for good than is the rhetoric or 
logic of the pulpit. The remembered wishes of friends 
that have passed the Jordan, how they wrap themselves 
about the heart ! And what can be said of the remembered 
wishes (shall we say?) of the blessed Jesus? Shall not the 
consideration that he who has done every thing for us, 
directs and invites us to a given course of life, be omnip- 
otent? Yes, if we love him^ we will keep his commandments, 

Alas for us ! we find it, perhaps, much easier to love 
our party, our church, and its forms and its policies, than 
to love the Lord that bought us. How many of those 
in all lands, who have professed to believe in Jesus, can 
go out under the starlit sky in the solemn night, and, look- 
ing up toward heaven, say with penitent Peter: "Lord 
Jesus, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love 
thee?" 

Men can do but little, except as mere partisans, under 
the influence of dogmas, whether religious, political, or 
moral; but the love of country, the love of mankind, the 
love of family, above all, the love of Jesus, what can not 
be achieved under its influence? Even an enemy can be 
forgiven, and fed, and clothed for Jesus's sake. His poor 
disciples can be sustained and comforted, because he asks 
it of us as if it were for himself. Men and women, too, 



L. L. PINKERTON. 119 

can go cheerfully to the very ends of the earth to seek 
the lost, and to tell them of God's great love for a sinful 
race, because Jesus commands it, and we can not deny him. 
Love is greater than faith, for the faith that overcomes 
the world must work by love. '' Love is the fulfilling 
of the law, and he that dwells in love, dwells in God and 
God in him, for God is love." When love for Christ 
shall so possess the hearts of his people as to be ever the 
regulating influence of their lives, then will the day of 
millennial glory break, then will Zion rise and shine, then 
will the Church go forth to the speedy conquest of the 
world. Meanwhile, he who shall set himself to keep the 
commandments of God without being constrained thereto 
by the love of Christ, will surely fail. And is not Jesus, 
the meek and lowly One, is he not "the chief among the 
ten thousand, and the one altogether lovely }. " What 
think you of Christ? Is he not worthy the adoring love 
of all hearts ? 

5. Jesus claimed Divine honors. 

"For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed 
all judgments unto the Son, that all men should honor 
the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honor- 
eth not the Son, honoreth not the Father who hath sent 
him." And should any poor sinner be staggered at this.^ 
If so, we remand him to "the testimony that God has 
given of his Son." True, indeed, the humiliation of Je- 
sus was infinite. " He took not on himself the nature of 
angels, but the seed of Abraham; for in all things it be- 
hooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he 
might be a merciful and faithful high-priest in things per- 
taining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the 
people." But because of this humiliation, because, "be- 
ing in the form of God, he thought it not robbery to be 



I20 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and 
took upon him the form of a servant, and became obe- 
dient unto death, even the death of the cross," on this 
very account '' God has highly exalted him, and given 
him a name that is above every name, that at the name 
of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and 
things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every 
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the 
glory of God the Father." (Phil, ii.) We need not fear 
to go where God dire6ls, and if he has appointed all the 
angels to worship his Son, sinners for whom he died may 
"honor him, even as they honor the Father." 

6. Jesus required that mankind should serve and obey him, 

"If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my 
love. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatever / commana 
you. If ye love me, keep my commandments. He that 
has my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that 
loveth me." These citations must suffice. In varied 
forms of words, Jesus claims to be a leader and com- 
mander of the people. The government is on his shoul- 
der, and he declares that all authority in heaven and on 
earth has been given to him. His apostle declares that 
" he has become the Author of eternal salvation to al 
them that ohey him'' 

If we have rightly apprehended the import of the teach- 
ing of Jesus, then does he make himself the objed of the 
faith that brings the sinner to God; he aims constantly 
to make men his own disciples; he requires men to con- 
fess, to honor, to love, and to obey him. This is re- 
ligion — the religion of the New Testament — and nothing 
else is. 

And here we must close this very imperfed: survey of 
these most fundamental and essential instructions. We 



L. L. PINKERTON. 121 



say imperfe^j for much less than a tithe of what Jesus said 
of himself has been cited. Without any marked order, 
however, we quote a few additional sayings of the great 
Teacher, some metaphorical, some literal, but all of 
widest, deepest significance, and all illustrating and con- 
firming our general proposition, namely, that, in the ap- 
prehension of Jesus, he was himself the beginning and 
the end of his religion, obje6tively considered. 

I. ''I am come a light into the world, that whosoever 
believeth on me should not abide in darkness." i. ''I 
am the good Shepherd, and give my life for the sheep'' 3. 
''No man cometh to the Father but by me.'' 4. ''I am 
the way, and the truth, and the life." 5. ''I am the re- 
surredion and the life." 6. "All that are in their graves 
shall hear his voice and come forth, they that have done 
good to the resurredlion of life, and they that have done 
evil to the resurredion of damnation." 7. "The Son of 
man shall sit on the throne of his glory, and before him 
shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them 
one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from 
the goats." But we desist. According to these most 
wonderful declarations, Jesus makes himself King, Priest, 
Sacrifice for sin. Guide of the world. Judge of all nations. 
What think ye of Christ? 

II. All that Jesus declared of himself, as to his nature, 
offices, and work, is, in various forms of words, reiterated 
by his inspired apostles and evangelists in both their 
preaching and teaching. 

I . " Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every 
creature." Such was, in brief, the great commission un- 
der which the apostles went out from the presence of the 
Lord, "to call men from darkness to light, that they 
might be translated from the kingdom of Satan into the 



122 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



dom of God's dear Son!' Let the earnest inquirer af- 
ter the "truth, as it is in Jesus^'' carefully read the inspired 
discourses recorded in the Ads of Apostles. Take, as 
specimens, the second, tenth, and thirteenth chapters. 
''Christ, and him crucified," buried, risen, ascended, and 
seated at the right hand of the Father, constitutes the 
burden of the apostolic proclamation. They "preached 
Jesus" to Jew and Gentile, and testified that ^^ through his 
naine whosoever believeth on him should receive the re- 
mission of sins." The "evolution of dodrines" had not 
then been begun; the children of God by faith in Christ 
Jesus were one ; and " mightily grew the word of the Lord 
and prevailed." With the evolution of dodrines began 
the evolution of seds, and they must continue to evolve 
and to revolve till all shall have returned to the ancient 
paths, till all shall perceive that the truth concerning the 
Christ, pra^ically accepted, is the sum of all truth essen- 
tial to Christian life and Christian fraternization. When 
we shall have closed our examination of the "sermons" 
of the apostles, the great, primary, all-comprehending in- 
quiry is still with us, "What think ye of Christ?" 

2. Our citations from the apostolic letters must be few 
Indeed, were all that is there declared of the nature, dig- 
nity, offices, and work of Jesus taken away, a few shreds 
only would remain, and these would be meaningless. 

I. '''Jesus must reign till he has put all enemies under 
his feet." 2. "We have a high-priest at the right hand of 
the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; his priest- 
hood is unchangeable, everlasting. Jesus ever lives to 
make intercession for us, being the Mediator of the new 
covenant." 3. "He is made unto us wisdom, and right- 
eousness, and sandification, and redemption, and by him we 
draw nigh to God." 4. "We are redeemed by the precious 



L. L. PTNKERTON. 1 23 



blood of Christy and he is able to save to the uttermost all 
that come to God by him." 5. ''The Church is the body 
of Christy and if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he 
is none of his." 6. ''If any man love not the Lord Jesus 
Christ, let him be anathema." 7. " He has left us an exam- 
ple that we should follow his steps." 8. "Jesus will judge 
the living and the dead at his appearing and kingdom." 
Thus by the hour might we repeat the declarations of 
apostles, in which they have exhausted the capacity of lit- 
eral and metaphorical language to express the glory, the 
grandeur, the majesty of Christ. Tn their teachings assur- 
edly, he is the first, and the midst, and the last. Truly 
God's thoughts are not our thoughts, nor his ways our 
ways ; for it hath pleased him, through the foolishness 
of preaching [Jesus], to save them that believe. At the 
close of our readings of the apostles' letters, the question 
still returns, if possible, with increased force, " What think 
you of Christ?" 

III. The "ordinances" of the Christian religion — the 
Lord s Day, the Lord' s Supper, and Baptism — declare the 
Gospel. They preach Jesus, and derive all their significance 
and value from their relations to him. Let us not suppose 
that this is accidental. 

I. What means the general stillness of the Lord's-day 
morning, as, in the round of the weeks, it breaks over 
Christian lands .^ The engine has ceased to puff, the rat- 
tle of machinery is stopped. No teams are being driven 
afield, but the unyoked cattle rest in the stalls, or repose 
at will in the green pastures. There is an unusual quiet 
in most households, for they feel that the day is hallowed. 
The places of merchandise are closed, and busy trade 
pauses to breathe. The poor man looks joyfully on the 
morning of this day, for he, too, may rest, and sing, and 



124 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



be glad. The bells ring out at length, to tell that the hour 
of prayer has come; and the rich and the poor together, 
the father, and mother, and children, and servants pass 
quietly along the streets or the country highways to their 
chosen shrines. Touching and beautiful is this, but why 
is it ? A voice comes down through the centuries — the 
voice of inspiration, the voice of angels, the voice of God, 
— saying, "Now is Christ risen from the dead, and be- 
come the first fruits of them that slept." This oracle ex- 
plains it all. As Je'sus died for our sins, so did he rise 
for our justification. ''The first day of the week*' hath 
this inscription : " Sacred, evermore, to the memory of 
the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from among the 
dead." It celebrates the triumph of the sinner's Friend 
over death and the grave, and thus preaches one great item 
of the Gospel of the grace of God. Ah, ye sorrowful ones, 
who, in garments of woe, and with heavy-laden hearts, go 
up on this day to the house of the Lord, cling to the faith 
of Christ's resurredlion, for if he rose not, then all faith 
is vain, we are all in our sins, and our dear ones gone, 
whom we had hoped to see again, are perished forever. 
No speculations, no philosophy can help us here. If Jesus 
does not come again to this earthy the dead will never rise out of 
their graves. But the first day of every week proclaims to 
all the ages that Jesus is theresurredion and the life, as he 
himself said, and that the dead will one day hear his voice 
and come forth — that "spring shall yet visit the molder- 
ing urn, and the morning of an eternal day break, at last, 
on the darkness of the tomb." " O Death, where now 
thy sting? O Grave, where now thy victory? The sting 
of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law, but 
thanks be to God, who giveth us the vidory through our 
Lord Jesus Christ^ 



L. L. PINKERTON. 1 25 



2. '' On the first day of the week the disciples came to- 
gether to break bread — to eat the Lord's supper." The 
appointments are the simplest — a loaf of bread and a cup 
of wine, but they signify much, even this: "Jesus died for 
our sins according to the Scriptures." The " Man of Sor- 
rows" ordained that his disciples should thus show forth 
his death, until he shall come. "The bread — is it not the 
communion of the body of Christ? The cup — is it not 
the communion of the blood of Christ?" (iCor.x.) "Do 
this," said the sorrow-laden Jesus, "do this in remembrance 
of me!' Was there in his nature, too, what we find in our 
own — a desire not to be forgotten ? However this may 
be, he knew how important it is that his disciples should 
keep in memory the great love wherewith he loved them, 
that they should often think of Gethsemane, of the agony 
and bloody sweat, of the crown of thorns, of Calvary and 
the Cross, and of that cry which was wrung from the break- 
ing heart of the smitten Shepherd : " My God ! my God ! 
why hast thou forsaken me?" By means of the "Sup- 
per" we go back over the centuries, and look upon the 
" Lamb of God, as he bore our sins in his own body on 
the tree," and we say, it is enough — God has, indeed, loved 
the world, since Jesus died to save it. " O Lamb of God, 
was ever pain, was ever love like thine?" 

3. " Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing 
them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of 
the Holy Spirit." In obedience to this commandment of 
Jesus, the apostles baptized all who yielded to their preaching. 
It is, perhaps, worthy of remark that baptism is the only 
ad that can be performed, in which the name of Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit may be called by Divine authority. It 
becomes, in view of this faft, a sublime, and even an aw- 
ful solemnity. But what is its significance? Even this: 



126 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the believing penitent is ^'' baptized into the death of Christ ;'** 
he is '^ buried with him by baptism into death ;" he is '^ bap- 
tized into Christy and thus puts on Christ^ (Rom. vi.) 
We cite no other Scriptures ; it were needless to do so. 
In this institution, v/hose very form sets forth a burial 
and a resurrection, the sinner puts on the Lord Jesus, and, 
through his name, obtains remission of sins. Thus do the 
ordinances of the Gospel preach Jesus crucified, buried, 
and risen, and derive all their significance and eflicacy from 
their relations to him. ''''What think you of Christ?'' 

Finally : God has placed before a sinful world, for its faith, 
its love, and its obedience, 2i person wearing human nature, 
and bearing its infirmities, yet possessing divine and infinite 
perfections and attributes. Jesus of Nazareth is a his- 
toric personage, whose individuality, so to speak, is marked 
with wonderful clearness. His manner of teachingr — the 
things taught, as well as his beautiful life, are altogether 
peculiar, single, alone. The New Testament is the mir- 
acle of literature. In the person and claims of Jesus our 
faith is demanded; for his divinely-beautiful chara(5ler our 
all-trusting, adoring love is asked. The commandments 
of Jesus are not docflrines, but plain rules of life, of ac- 
tion, to which submission is required. These three things : 
faith in Jesus, the love of Jesus, and obedience to Jesus, 
as Lord of all, constitute the Christian religion, and are 
possible to the poor and to the unlearned, as well as to 
the wealthy and the wise. Not so with theologv, with 
scientific Christianity, about which most religious con- 
troversies arise, and which constitute the foundations of 
religious sedls, regarded as such merely. Touching the 
commands of the blessed Redeemer, we may say, it is not 
easy for the honest-hearted seriously to mistake them. 
The general import of the whole is, as illustrated by his 



L. L. PINKERTON. 1 27 



own beautiful, Divine life, ''to do justly, to love mercy, 
and to walk humbly with God." This is orthopraxy, with- 
out which orthodoxy is but an impertinence and a cheat. 

Complainings, on all sides, of the want of earnest relig- 
ious living have become chronic. The general tone of 
religious life will not be improved till God's 'people shall 
come to apprehend with greater clearness, and to feel with 
far deeper intensity, the claims of their Redeemer on their 
affedions, until they shall love him more than they love 
wealth, and friends, and life — unti] the love of Christ shall 
constrain them. Religious partyism has long been the 
opprobrium of the Church. The Church will never be 
united in "dodrines" of any kind. She must be one in 
Christ Jesus, or divide still more, and remain divided till 
the Lord shall come. 

Jesus is with the sinner in his first faint glimmerings of 
faith; he is before him, the embodiment of infinite sorrow 
and of infinite love, when alone he heaves the first sigh of 
penitence; he is in his heart when, before men, he makes 
confession unto salvation; the penitent clings by faith to the 
Cross when he is buried with his Lord in baptism ; when, as 
a child of God, he takes his seat at the table of the Lord, 
Jesus lifts up his bleeding hands before him, and says: 
''Do this in remembrance of me." When he bows the 
knee in prayer, he remembers that Jesus ever lives to in- 
tercede for him; in hours of calamity, he finds support in 
the words of Jesus : " Let not your heart be troubled, you 
believe in God, believe also in me." When his heart sinks 
in view of death and the grave, he remembers the words 
of the Savior: "I am the resurredion and the life; he that 
believeth in me, though he die, yet shall he live again;" 
and he remembers that Jesus will be his Judge in the last 
terrible solemnity in the history of the human race. From 



128 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the lips of Jesus shall fall a sentence that shall raise the 
redeemed to heights of inconceivable glory, and a sentence 
that shall banish his enemies, those that deny him, "into 
everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels." 
From these sentences there can be no appeal for evermore. 
The Lamb of God will lead his people to fountains of liv- 
ing water in the abodes of immortality, while his redeem- 
ing love shall forever constitute the theme of their loftiest 
anthems. 

The sum is this: Instead of abstrad, scientific formu- 
las, God has given us every thing in the concrete. He has 
embodied for us, so to speak, in the person and charader 
of Jesus, his own idea of human life, rendered divine, and 
has revealed the divine through the human. Instead of 
"do6lrines" he offers to us a mysterious ^^rj-^;?, who draws 
the hearts of men to him because he is their brother, and 
who, at the same time commands their devotion, because 
he is " the only-begotten Son of God.'' O, ineffable 
"mystery of godliness, God manifest in the flesh." 

Our controversy, then, if we have one, is not with "the 
Church," nor our chief concern with ^' do£frines'' and re- 
ligious philosophies, but with Him who is "the first and 
the last, who was dead, but is alive again for evermore, and 
who has the keys of hell and of death." What think ye 
of Christ? " Blessed are they who do his commandments, 
that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter 
in through the gates into the city." Amen. 





.^ //u^ (^^z^ '4 



ff-4^^'<&/W-^^ 



^-c^^-^ 



L W. r^anrofl. & 0?Piibli;aiars. CmcumaUO 



JAMES CHALLEN. 



T7EW preaphers among the Disciples are better known than the subjeft 
•■■ of this sketch. Early in the beginning'of the current Reformation, he 
became identified with its fortunes, and has remained a firm and consistent 
advocate of its principles till the present time. Although considerably ad- 
vanced in years, he has not laid aside the armor, but is still preaching, with 
great acceptance to the Church, at Davenport, Iowa. 

James Challen was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, January 7, 1802. 
His parents were from England, and emigrated to this country soon after 
the War of Independence. His father was a Methodist, and his mother a 
Baptist, and this led him to examine the Word of God for himself. The 
result of this examination was the acceptance of the religious position which 
he now occupies, and in defense of which he has given the greater part of 
his life. 

He confessed the Savior, and was immersed under the ministry of Dr. 
James Fishback, of Lexington, Kentucky, on the 1 8th day of January, 1 823, 
and united with the Baptist Church, of which Dr. Fishback was pastor. 
He soon commenced preaching, but, feeling the necessity of a more thor- 
ough preparation for the work of the ministry, he entered Transylvania 
University, with the view to obtain a first-class education. While in the 
junior class of that institution, he was called to the charge of the Enon 
Baptist Church, Cincinnati, Ohio, which he accepted, and entered at once 
upon the duties of his new position. He remained with this church till 
the Sycamore-street Church was formed. This last was composed prin- 
cipally of members who had been brought in under his personal ministry; 
consequently were well instrufted in the simple truths of Christianity, and 
fully prepared to "take their stand on the Bible, and the Bible alone." 

He was immediately eledled pastor of the new church, in which posi- 
tion he was instrumental in establishing firmly the "Ancient Gospel" in 
the Queen City. In 1834 ^^ removed to Lexington, Kentucky, where he 
organized the church which exists there at present. He remained at this 

9 (129) 



IJO THE LIVING PULPIT. 



point for several years, meeting with encouraging success in the proclama- 
tion of the Word. 

In 1850 he took charge of the church in Philadelphia, and spent about 
eight years in that city. In i860 he removed to Davenport, low^a, v^^here 
he has remained ever since. 

Brother Challen is of small stature, but has a tough, wiry frame, which 
is capable of great endurance. He has a high, commanding forehead, small, 
sharp, penetrating eye, and a mouth that indicates decision and firmness of 
charafter. As a speaker, he is pleasing and instruftive; sometimes, forcible 
and eloquent. He has great compass of voice, and always speaks with con- 
siderable animation. 

His literary attainments are quite respeftable, having, for many years 
past, made the best English authors his constant companions. But he has 
not pursued this branch of study to the negleft of his ministerial labors — 
he has found it the best way to prepare himself for his life-work. 

He writes rapidly, and with great ease. Besides being a regular con- 
tributor to the periodical press of the Disciples, he has written a number 
of useful works, some of which have had considerable circulation. Of 
these, we mention ** The Gospel and its Elements," " Christian Evidences,'* 
** Baptism in Spirit and in Fire," ** Frank Elliot," and "Christian Morals." 
He has also written two volumes of poetry : *' The Cave of Machpelah 
and other Poems," and *'Igdrasil, or the Tree of Existence;" and edited 
" Challen's Juvenile Library," numbering forty-one volumes. For several 
years he published a monthly, called " The Ladies' Christian Annual," and 
the " Gem," a neat and well-condufted Sunday-school paper. His writ- 
ings all breathe a deeply-earnest Christian spirit, and leave little doubt in 
the mind of the reader concerning the religious position of their author. 



RECONCILIATION. 



BY JAMES CHALLEN. 



"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus 
Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to-wit, that 
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their 
trespasses unto them ; and hath committed unto us the word of reconcili- 
ation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did be- 
seech you by us : we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. 
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we might 
be made the righteousness of God in him." — 2 Cor. v: 18-21. 

THAT man is alienated from God, and at enmity 
with him, are truths every-where taught in the Di- 
vine oracles ; and although many know him not, and are liv - 
ing in ignorance of what he has revealed, yet their whole 
moral nature and life show aversion to his government, 
and departure from his ways. The "carnal mind is en- 
mity to God," and ''the friendship of the world is enmity 
with him." The Gentiles, before the Gospel was preached 
to them, are said to be " alienated from the life of God 
through the ignorance that is in them." 

It is not necessary that men shall know God, or be 
acquainted with his ways, to be alienated from him. As 
darkness is opposed to light, and error to truth, and sin 
to righteousness, so the heart and life of man are opposed 
to his Maker. '' The wrath of God is revealed from 

(131) 



132 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of 
men " wherever it is found. His nature is eternally op- 
posed to all that is sinful. 

The Gentiles were without excuse ; " foir when they 
knew God, they worshiped him not as God, neither were 
thankful ; but became vain in their imaginations, and their 
foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be 
wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the in- 
corruptible God into an image made like to corruptible 
man, and to birds and four-footed beasts, and to creeping 
things." A fearful pidure is drawn by the Apostle of the 
charader and condition of the heathen world in his own 
day, and it is equally as true now as then. (Rom. i : 20-32.) 

The Jews, who were blessed with a verbal revelation, 
were equally inexcusable as the Gentiles. Indeed, they 
were involved in deeper guilt. They despised the riches 
of God's goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering. 
They treasured up wrath against the day of wrath and the 
righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man 
according to his deeds. The Scriptures have concluded 
all men under sin. This is the condition of the world, 
and in this attitude the word of reconciliation is sent us. 

The spedacle is an appalling one. If the relation of 
man to man is one of enmity, that of man to his Maker 
is of a deeper hue. It is estrangement of heart and life 
from all that is pure and good ; of hostility to the spirit 
and principles of his moral government over his rational 
creation. The race of man presents to angels a vast ruin — 
greater than all the cities of dead empires ; a desolation 
more fearful than the wreck of conquering armies, or the 
waste of fields and vineyards by the devouring locusts, or 
by sword and famine. 

God sees all this, and remembers whence we have fallen. 



JAMES CHALLEN. 133 



and what our sins will lead to unless redeemed by the 
blood of his Son ; and in his pity and his mercy he has 
sent us deliverance. 

'The Ministry of Reconciliation. " 

The One Great Minister sent of God on this embassy 
of reconciliation is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living 
God. He is his special servant in accomplishing this work. 
He came from heaven with full powers to treat with men 
on this subjed. He represents all the dignity, authority, 
and glory of the Father who sent him ; and all the weak- 
ness, poverty and suffering of those he came to reconcile. 
In his person, we see all that is divine in his Father, and 
all that is human in his mother. He touches the throne 
of the Majesty in the heavens, and stoops to the lowest 
condition of our race upon the earth. His divinity rises 
as high as the heaven of heavens — over the Bethlehem in 
which, as a child, he was born, and the Nazareth in which 
he was subjed to his parents. The supernatural shines 
forth in every stage of his mission, as in the Mount of 
Transfiguration, and at the tomb of the rich Arimathean. 
He unites the tears of human sympathy with the voice of 
omnipotence, and walks with human feet upon the stormy 
Galilee, while he lays his hand of might upon the turbu- 
lent billows, and with divine majesty cries, '* Peace, be 
still." We feel no surprise or astonishment at the "signs 
and wonders " attesting his mission, as they seem to be 
the natural accompaniments of it. They appear as his 
own and proper ''works,'* as fruitage from the tree, or 
grain from the sower's field, or words and deeds from 
living men. His mission is ''the end of a boundless 
past, the center of a boundless present, and the beginning 
of a boundless future." 



134 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



His life, though human, did not move on the plane 
of the world's history. He stood apart, and alone, in 
the grand obje6ts of his mission. He had no popular 
favor to seek; no worldly plans to accomplish; no honors 
to gain ; no emoluments or earthly ambitions to acquire. 
He allied not himself with party or sed; with the rich 
or the poor; with the Sanhedrim or Caesar. He came 
not to receive, but to give. He was of the race, and aded 
for the race. He came as the world's reconciler. The 
very conception of such a purpose is Divine, and places 
him incomparably above all who preceded him. 

His mission, though to "the lost sheep of the house 
of Israel," was for the benefit of the world. Not a single 
nation, but the whole race, were the objedls of his ministry. 
He came, not to elevate Judea from its oppressed condi- 
tion, nor yet to ally himself with imperial Rome; but to 
gather, out of the families and tribes of earth, a people 
for his name ; a chosen generation, a royal priesthood ; 
and to found an empire of redeemed, regenerated, and 
reconciled subjeds, which should stand forever. 

So far was he from conciliating the favor of the leading 
parties, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians forgot 
their mutual prejudices in opposing him. Pilate and Herod 
made friends in plotting his destru6lion. Both the ecclesi- 
astical and political governments were hostile to him; and 
the only part of the nation that sympathized with him were 
the poor and the negleded — the outcasts from society — 
'* publicans and sinners." His poverty and pity drew 
him to the masses, from whom he could receive nothing; 
and his princely gifts and his humble garb attraded their 
attention and won their confidence. He was "the Divine 
man" for which the ages had looked; and suffering and 
sorrowing hearts responded to his tears and his words of 



JAMES CHALLEN. 135 



hope. He knew that a man was greater than his condi- 
tion ; and that learning, wealth, and position were but as 
the leaves of the forest, short-lived and temporary, soon 
to wither and die, and would give place to the foliage 
of returning seasons. His mighty soul heard the deep 
moanings of the troubled sea of humanity, and the wail 
of ages from the four winds of heaven. He stood in the 
very heart of the race, the one perfedly developed man ; 
the only full-blown flower on the stock of our humanity. 
He would draw all men to him, and make them like him- 
self — '' holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sin- 
ners " — that he might elevate them higher than the heav- 
ens. Though daily in contad: with pollution, he was 
never defiled. Though breathing the tainted atmosphere 
of a sinful world, he was never infeded with its poison. 
Though walking in the midst of guilt and shame, of pride 
and selfishness, he was proof against it. With the world 
grown old in sin and folly, and in arms against him, he 
was not only able to meet, but to conquer it. Great as 
was the temptation of our first parents, it was nothing, 
when compared with what ''the Son of Man '' endured, 
and without sin. He not only realized in person what 
men have to encounter in striving for a purer life, but he 
showed what latent virtues, and what powers of resistance 
the soul of man possesses, and can summon to his aid. 
His daily contad with suffering did not harden, but soft- 
ened his heart. The greatness of our guilt and of our 
grief did not fill him with despair, but summoned his 
mighty energies to the work of relief. The tears he shed 
at the grave of Lazarus, and over Jerusalem, were not the 
tears of weakness arising from the inability to relieve and 
to conquer, but from the well-spring of sorrow, in view 
of the awful ravages of human transgression. ''The man 



136 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



of sorrows "^this inheritor of human grief — is the world's 
reconciler ! How deep thy agony ! how lonely thy sorrow ! 
What to thee was the crown of thorns, the scourging and 
the spitting, the cry of "Crucify ! crucify!" the cross, and 
its shame! These but poorly represented "the man of 
sorrows." They only gave outward form and expression 
to the unutterable burden which pressed upon his spirit, 
in view .of the ravages of sin and its appalling conse- 
quences. 

He saw that sin had made the race "captives;" he came 
to bring them deliverance. They were condemned crimi- 
nals ; he came to bring them pardon. They were in a 
state of rebellion; he came to bring them peace. They 
were dead; he was "the resurrection and the life." They 
were self-destroyed; he brought good news of salvation. 
They were alienated from God; he came to reconcile them. 

It was the region of the shadow of death into which he 
entered ; the darkness and bewilderment of the race were 
growing deeper and deeper. To one so sensitive to evil, 
so averse to wrong-doing, so perfe6lly in harmony with 
God and all righteousness, so happy and rich in the mem- 
ories of the past, so exultant and joyful in the hopes 
of the future, pity oppressed him beyond the claims of 
justice, and mercy rejoiced over the demands of violated 
law. If it had not been for the consciousness of his abil- 
ity to save, the bloody sweat of Gethsemane would have 
been the baptism of his life ; and the cry, " My God, 
why hast thou forsaken me," the death-cry of his mission. 
But " God was in Christ reconciling the world to him- 
self," and he felt sure of success; and "for the joy that 
was set before him, endured the cross, despising the 
shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the 
throne of God." 



JAMES CHALLEN. 137 



The Ambassadors of Christ, 

It was not the design of Christ to leave the world with- 
out selecting suitable persons to represent his cause, and 
carry out his gracious purposes in its reconciliation. He 
therefore chose twelve men from the humble walks of life, 
who should be with him during his public ministry, and be 
fully taught his docftrine. In the early part of his labors, he 
separated these men from the multitude of disciples, and they 
were constantly with him in private and in public. They 
heard his instrudions to the people, and his many conver- 
sations with the Scribes and Pharisees, and others in Judea. 
They heard his discourses to the people, and enjoyed the 
peculiar advantage of his private instruction. They had 
every opportunity of learning his ways and knowing his will. 
Hekept back nothing from them. They saw his "works'* 
— the signs and wonders which he did. In so many as- 
peds did they view him, that it was impossible for them 
to be ignorant of his person, his teaching, or his claims. 
He did nothing in secret. In the synagogue and in the 
temple, in the open fields, by the seaside, and in the des- 
ert, in populous cities and in the villages, and in private 
houses, they were his daily attendants. They saw his 
mighty works, and were convinced that God was with him. 
Diseases in every form departed at his word. The lame, 
the halt, and the blind were healed, and death, in all its 
stages, acknowledged his power. The daughter of Jairus, 
in youth and beauty having just expired, and the son of 
the widow at Nain, in the strength of his manhood, was 
being borne to the grave, and at his will they are brought 
to life; and Lazarus, a disciple, rapidly dissolving in the 
tomb, awoke and was restored to his weeping sisters. 
These were the first precursors of the mighty demon- 



138 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



stration of his own resurredlion. As we see him wading 
through the floods of great waters to the mount of sacrifice, 
we hear him saying: '* I will ransom them from the power 
of the grave; I will redeem them from death; O death, I 
will be thy plague ; O grave, I will be thy destrudion." 

Jesus had informed the disciples of the fad that he should 
die, and on the third day be raised again. They did not be- 
lieve it, and, even after his resurredion, it was with diffi- 
culty they could be convinced of its reality. But by many 
infallible proofs he appeared and satisfied even the most 
incredulous among them. They saw him, handled him, 
examined his person, conversed with him, and enjoyed such 
dired and personal intimacy with him as to assure them of 
his identity and triumphs. They were to be his witnesses : 
"Ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me 
from the beginning." In choosing an apostle to fill the 
place of Judas, who by trangression fell, Peter said to the 
disciples: "Wherefore of these men who have companied 
with us, all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out 
among us, begininng from the baptism of John, unto that 
same day that he was taken from us, must one be ordained 
to be a witness with us of his resurredion." To be a wit- 
ness with the other apostles of the resurredion of Christ, 
it was needful that the person chosen should have known 
Jesus intimately from the day of his baptism to the hour 
of his ascension. So much depended upon this great dem- 
onstration, that the most certain and unerring testimony, 
above all dispute, and free from all doubt, must be af- 
forded. Jesus, after his death and resurredion, said to 
the apostles: "Thus it is written, and thus it behooved 
the Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third 
day: and that repentance and remission of sins should 
be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at 



JAMES CHALLEN. 139 



Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things." (Luke 
xxiv: 46-48.) The apostles declare that they were '^wit- 
nesses of all things that he did, both in the land of the 
Jews and in Jerusalem ; whom they slew and hanged on a 
tree: him God raised up the third day, and shewed him 
openly; not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen 
before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him 
after he rose from the dead." (AAs x: 39-41.) 

In order more fully to qualify the apostles for the work 
assigned them, he promised, in vi.ew of his departure, the 
Holy Spirit, the Comforter, and the Advocate, to teach 
them all things, and to bring all things to their remem- 
brance whatsoever he had said to them; and in addition to 
their testimony, he himself should testify concerning the 
Savior. He renewed this promise to them before his ascen- 
sion, and told them that they should be baptized in the 
Holy Spirit not many days hence; and to tarry in Jerusa- 
lem until they should be endued with power from on high. 

On the day of Pentecost the twelve, as ambassadors of 
Christ, opened the seals of their commission, and spoke 
with the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven. Their minds 
were wholly immersed in all the splendid powers of the 
world to come. They were brought fully under the influ- 
ence of ''the spirit of Truth," and being filled with his 
presence, they began to speak with other tongues, as the 
Spirit gave them utterance. Three thousand enemies were 
made friends. The betrayers and murderers of Christ were 
the first to be reconciled to God by the death of his Son. 
From thence they went through all Judea and Samaria, 
preaching the Word; and in connection with Paul, called 
afterward to be an apostle and ambassador by our ascended 
Lord, they spread the knowledge of salvation to the ends 
of the earth. 



HO THE LIVING PULPIT. 



It was with great propriety that the apostles were called 
ambassadors. No word could more fully set forth their 
work, and the authority under which they aded. 

An ambassador is a special minister, of the highest rank, 
sent by one prince or government to another, to manage 
the affairs of state. They are either ordinary or extraor- 
dinary. They represent the authority and dignity of the 
state that sends them. In the Old Testament such offi- 
cers are frequently referred to, and their fundions are 
known, and have been respeded, in all ages of the world. 

The apostles were extraordinary ambassadors. They re- 
ceived their commission in person from their Prince; and 
their names are mentioned in the instrument that bears it. 
They brought a special message to the world from him, 
containing the grounds of reconciliation, and the terms on 
which they should enjoy it. He left nothing to them, but 
fully declared in what way he would treat with an alienated 
and rebellious world. In their words and deeds they sat- 
isfadorily displayed, through ''signs and wonders," the 
evidences of their commission. They did nothing in their 
own name, but in the name of the Prince and Savior of 
the world, they submitted, in the most grave and solemn 
manner, the ultimatum of their sovereign Lord. They won 
to his cause multitudes of men and women, and planted 
churches in the land of the Jews and in the Gentile world. 
They fully made known the Gospel on every continent 
then known, and to the islands of the seas; and left on 
record, for all succeeding ages, the fruit of their labors — the 
life of their Leader and the conditions of their embassy. 

The Gospel they preached did not perish with them. 
It remained entire, in all its force and in all its elements, 
for succeeding ages. Others were required by them to 
'' hold fast the form of sound words which they had heard 



JAMES CHALLEN. I4I 



from them, and to keep that good thing intrusted to them 
bv the Holy Spirit that dwells in us." The things they 
had heard from the apostles were to be ''committed to 
faithful men, who should be able to teach others also." 
The Church they established on the earth was to last, with 
all its institutions, until Jesus should come again. The 
Savior promised that ''their work should remain." The 
terms of reconciliation they proposed to men in his name, 
are as binding now as they were then. The Gospel, as the 
incorruptible word, abideth forever. 

As the work of ambassadors in secular matters is re- 
spedled as sacredly after their death as when alive, so the 
work of the chosen twelve is of perpetual obligation. The 
crowned Prince has never revoked the message he sent by 
them, or superseded their embassy. It is still " the word 
of reconciliation." It is "the word of faith" to the un- 
believing, exhibiting all the great fads of the Gospel, its 
commands and promises. It is " the word of truth" from 
him who is the true and faithful witness, and who is "the 
way, the truth, and the life." It is "the Word of Life" to 
those who are dead in trespasses and in sins, from him who 
has brought "life and immortality to light." It is "the 
Gospel of God," because it originated with him, and dis- 
plays to us his unutterable philanthropy and good-will. 
It is "the Gospel of grace," as it shows the benignity of 
God, and the utter helplessness of man. It is " the 
Gospel of salvation," as it shows the way of escape, and 
gives us the means of deliverance. It is "the Gospel of 
peace," because it proposes the terms of reconciliation to 
a world in rebellion, and shows that every obstacle is now 
removed in the way of its enjoyment. This word of 
salvation was given by the Father to his Son, and by him 
to the apostles, and by them to the world, who beseech 



142 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



men in Christ's stead to be reconciled to God; for he has 
made him, who knew no sin, a sin-offering for us, that 
we might be made '' the righteousness of God." They 
urged their plea under the diredion of him who had '^all 
authority in heaven and upon earth/' 

The terms of reconciliation are an immediate surrender, 
" body, soul, and spirit," to God, according to the Gos- 
pel they preached. To believe in Jesus as the Christ, the 
Son of the living God, with all the heart; to repent and 
to bring forth fruits worthy of the new life to which they 
are called ; to confess him openly before men as their 
Lord and Christ; and to be buried with him in baptism, 
in order to rise in that new kingdom over which he reigns. 
These terms are enforced by all the arguments drawn 
from the love of God, and the helplessness of man ; from 
his guilt, and exposedness to the wrath to come; by the 
long-suffering of God and his unspeakable pity; by the 
gift of his only-begotten Son, that we might live through 
him ; by his life of sinlessness, of tenderness and love ; 
by his deep humiliation, sufferings, and death ; by the Cross 
and its agony, the grave and its ransom ; by the grace 
which he offers, and the glories which he promises; by the 
reconciliation which he sends us, and the eternal shame 
and dishonor which await those who rejecft it. 

The reconciliation will result, finally, not only in uniting 
together both Jews and Gentiles here on the earth, " by 
the blood of the Cross," into one body, but all things qr 
persons, whether in earth or in the heavens; "the spirit 
of the just made perfed " in all ages; the redeemed of 
God out of every tribe, and tongue, and people under the 
whole heaven. Angels, who by their purity and holiness 
have only ministered to us as servants, shall unite with 
us as friends ; and shall, once again and forever, share 



JAMES CHALLEN. 1 43 



in our fellowship and partake of our joys; "that in the 
dispensation of the fullness of the times, he might gather 
together in one all things in Christ, both which are in 
heaven and on earth ; even in him, in whom we have ob- 
tained an inheritance, being predestinated according to 
the purpose of him who worketh all things after the coun- 
sel of his own will." 




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T)_."W.Cairol] & C" P.jlhsliers.CmciimiU.O. 



LANCEFORD BRAMBLET WILKES. 



'TpHE subjeft of this sketch was born in Maury County, Tennessee, 
-*■ on the 24th of March, 1824. His paiernal ancestors were English* 
His father (Edmund), grandfather (John), and great-grandfather (Minor 
Wilkes), were natives of Virginia. His grandfather moved to Middle 
Tennessee in 1810, and settled in Maury County. His father was the 
youngest son of a large family, was born in Franklin County, Virginia, 
in 1797, and was married, in 1 8 19, to C. H. Houston, second daughter 
of James, the son of Christopher C. Houston. The maternal grandfather 
was of Scotch descent, and a native of Iredel County, North Carolina. 
The maternal grandmother was the daughter of Daniel Bills, of Surrey 
County, North Carolina, and was of Irish descent. In the spring of 1829, 
when the son was five years of age, the father left the State of Tennessee, 
and located in what is now Miller County, Missouri. In that new and 
growing country, L. B. Wilkes spent his boyhood years. As there were 
few schools, and still fewer churches, within his reach at that time, his 
educational and church privileges were quite limited till he was twenty 
years of age. From 1844 to 1848 he spent the time in alternately teaching 
and attending the best schools accessible to him. During this time he at- 
tended an academy at Springfield, Missouri, and made considerable progress 
in the rudiments of an education. 

It w^as only a short time before entering this academy that he first heard 
the Disciples preach. Those he heard were illiterate, and, as he thought, 
heretical in their religious views ; and, to use his own language, he " despised 
them." But while attending the academy, he heard the Gospel preached 
in its fullness, simplicity, and beauty, by his relative, J. M. Wilkes, and 
J. H. Haden. Father Haden, as he was familiarly called, was one of the 
best and wisest of the preachers of that country. His preaching had a 
great influence on the mind of the subjefl of this notice, who, having heard 
the truth as it is in Jesus, believed, and was immersed in James River, near 
Springfield, Missouri, on the second Lord's day in August, 1848, by J. M. 
Wilkes. 

10 rnO 



146' THE LIVING PULPIT. 



In the spring of 1849 ^^ entered Bethany College, West Virginia; but 
in the summer of the following year, at the urgent solicitation of Father 
Haden, from whom he received temporary aid, he returned to Missouri, 
and, in 1852, graduated at the State University, then under the presidency 
of the distinguished James Shannon. 

In 1853, at the request of the church at Hannibal, Missouri, he became 
its pastor ; and, in February of the next year, he was married to Miss. R. K., 
y oungest daughter of Lewis Bryan, of Palmyra, Missouri. 

In 1854 ^^ formed a partnership with Dr. W. H. Hopson, in the man- 
agement of "Palmyra Female Seminary;" and, in 1856, he was elefted 
President of ** Christian College," now presided over by J. K. Rogers. 

In i860 he was again called to the church at Hannibal, Missouri, where 
he remained for five years, greatly beloved by the congregation for which 
he labored, and respefted by all who knew him. In November, 1865, he 
located in Springfield, Illinois, which is his present field of labor. 

Both as a preacher and teacher. Brother Wilkes has been successful. 
True, he has never been remarkable for holding "big meetings," and 
having great success in the evangelical field, though his successes even here 
h'ave been by no means small ; but he has been eminently successful 
in developing a permanent growth among the Disciples, wherever he has 
labored. He succeeds better as an instructor of the head, than as a mover 
of the heart. And yet he is capable of using very powerful persuasive 
influence, though he seldom resorts to this method, preferring rather to 
present his subjeft in the strongest light to the calm judgment, and await 
the desired result, which, if not so certain, is always more satisfadlory when 
obtained. 

His mind is rigidly logical, and yields only to legitimate arguments.. He 
has very strong and decided conviftions, and although somewhat reserved 
in expressing himself on any mooted question, is, nevertheless, always per- 
fedlly willing to share the full responsibility of any position he may occupy, 
and, if necessary, will defend it in the face of all opposition. He is natu- 
rally, however, unostentatious, quiet in his general movements, and. "seeks 
after those things which make for peace." 

He is about six feet high, has light hair, blue eyes, a sallow complexion, 
and weighs about one hundred and sixty pounds. He is a close, laborious 
student, and this fadl is clearly marked on his physical organization. 



CHRIST'S PRECIOUS INVITATION. 



BY L. B. WILKES. 



** Come to me, all you that are weary and heavily burdened, and I will 
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me ; for I am meek 
and lowly in heart; and you shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke 
is easy and my burden is light." — Matt, xi : 28-30. 

THIS passage does not say, nor does any one in the 
Scriptures, that Christ is to come to the sinner, but 
the sinner is to come to him. Religious teachers are, cer- 
tainly, some of them, not a little in error on this point. 
The appliances used, in too many cases, in order to the 
conversion of sinners, intimate that there is a time to 
which the sinner is to look and for which he is taught to 
pray, when God will incline to him, when he will be gra- 
cious. The sinner's effort is, of course, influenced by such 
teaching, to induce the Lord to have mercy, instead o^ him- 
self htcoming willing to submit, unreservedly and with the 
whole heart, to terms already plainly propounded, to which 
he is invited. 

This error in practice is founded upon an error in 
theory, i. It supposes that God is not, at all times, 
willing to accept the sinner, though he should come just 
as he ought. 2. That some work on the sinner's part is 
necessary to make him willing. But, in truth, God is at 

(H7) 



148 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



all times willing. His nature is love, and Jesus's nature 
is the same, fully the same. Nor can we conceive what 
HE would be, if, at any time, he were unwilling to be mer- 
ciful to a sinner. One thing we can see clearly — he would 
not be the God of the Bible. It would follow hence that 
we could have no premises from which to infer that any 
ad: on the sinner's part would induce willingness on his. 
All such works are, therefore, works of supererogation, 
based upon the commandments of men, and not upon the 
will of God. Notice: I speak of the sinner, not a sinner, 
and of God's being willing to pardon the sins of such an 
one. If it should be asked: Why, if God is really will- 
ing at all times to have mercy upon the sinner, does he 
not adually and at once have mercy upon all ? I reply : it 
is because he can not, not because he is not willing. True, 
in a sense, God can not be willing to do what he can not 
consistently do. While the sinner is impenitent God can 
not pardon him ; can not will to pardon him. It would be 
offering a premium for sin to do so. But still God does 
will the salvation of every sinner, and he has also willed 
expressly the conditions upon which he saves. Now that 
a given man is not saved, is not proof that God is unwill- 
ing to save him, while as yet the man fails of the condi- 
tions upon which the salvation is contingent. But if it 
could be established that no conditions are imposed upon 
man^ that God's will to that effedl is alone the condition of 
the sinner's forgiveness, then it would follow, that, if a 
man is a sinner, it is because God is not willing to make 
him a saint. But, for those who believe that the Scrip- 
tures express the will of God, arguments are not necessary. 
The plain statements and necessary implications of the 
sacred volume put the question to rest at once. (See Ezek. 
xviii: 23; xxxiii: 11; i Tim. ii: 4, etc.) The passage at 



L. B. WILKES. 149 



the head — ^^Come unto me," etc., necessarily implies the 
willingness of Jesus to give rest, life, and salvation. It 
also informs us that though Jesus is willing, anxious, 
pleading, bleeding, and dying that the sinner might be 
saved, yet it is necessary, in order to find rest^ to come and 
take the yoke divine. 

When the faith of the preacher is settled, firmly settled, 
that God can not be made, nor wished, more ready or will- 
ing than he is already, to be merciful to the sinner, then 
his energies and earnest work will be spent in impressing 
upon the heart of the poor lost one the awful and calam- 
itous nature of sin. Then will he point him to the Cross 
of Christ, the best possible expression of the heinous char- 
ader of that which brought the Savior there. This he will 
do with earnestness, and with such manifest confidence 
that, if the sinner will yield in child-like faith and simplic- 
ity to the will of God, he shall in nowise be turned away, 
that he will have good reason to hope the best possible 
results. 

It is implied in the words '' Come to me," that Jesus 
and the sinner are apart. This separation is one suggest- 
ing a space, not that may be measured by yards, feet, and 
inches, but that must be reckoned by degrees of moral 
quality. Even the parties whom Christ addressed were 
not supposed to be absent from him by a literal space, but 
they were morally apart. Among men, we frequently find 
persons mingling together, whose hearts are not at all in 
harmony; who are morally wide apart. The mathemati- 
cal and logical condition of persons and parties being one, 
of their being together morally — that they love the same 
thing, then will they love one another — being wanting, 
they can not be together. So it was of the parties before 
us. *^The righteous Lord loves righteousness, and hates 



150 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



iniquity ; whereas the sinner loves iniquity, and hates right- 
eousness." Hence were they apart. Now, before they can 
be together, they must be alike; and ere this is possible, 
they must change, one or both. But Jesus already occu- 
pies, morally, the position of righteousness, the rallying 
point, so far as abstract principle is concerned, for all ac- 
countable intelligences in the universe. It follows that 
there is no change to take place in him of the kind in 
question; and since a physical change is out of the ques- 
tion, therefore no change at all. Hence the sinner must 
change if he would be saved. 

Sin is the cause of the separation. Of this God is not 
the author. If he were, I can not see the reason for hold- 
ing man responsible for it. If man is not responsible 
for sin, then there can be no such thing as salvation; and 
. therefore, no Savior, and Jesus was wrongly named. Nor 
shall I suppose that man is the responsible author, while 
God is the real author of sin. That God should be the 
real author of sin, but should so shift the responsibility of 
it that man — an innocent party — must bear it, is revolting 
to my common sense ; is little, if any, short of the veri- 
est blasphemy. Besides the reason of the case, which I 
think I have with me, I have something infinitely better — 
the Word of God. Paul says (Rom. v : 1 2) : " Wherefore, 
as by one man sin entered into the world," etc. Here it 
is declared that sin came by man. To say that God is the 
author of sin, in any sense, is, I think, far from the truth. 
Some are inclined to make God in some way, or to some 
extent, responsible for sin, since, say they, he permitted it. 
But I do not see that God did, in any proper sense of the 
word, permit sin. To say that a person permits any given 
thing, is to say that he could prevent it. Now, before 
any one should conclude that God permitted sin, and is to 



L. E, Vv'II.KI 



Ijr 



that extent responsible for it, he should see distinclly 
that God could, in harmony with his nature, with the 
principles of his government and the nature of man, have 
prevented its existence. That God's physical power is 
adequate to the accomplishing of any purpose compatible 
with his moral nature, I grant, is true. But that his 
omnipotence would or could be exercised to accomplish 
that which would be inharmonious with the principles of 
his moral government, is not true. Before, then, we 
should allow that God could have prevented sin, and 
hence that he may have permitted it, we must see that in 
so doing he would not have outraged any principles of 
his nature or of his dealings with man. Such knowledge 
would include a full view of all the principles of God's 
moral government, which we ought not to presume to 
have. But do we know any thing of God from which we 
may infer certainly that he could not consistently have 
prevented sin? The fact that sin is, to my mind, proves 
that God could not have prevented it, and that, therefore, 
he did not permit it. Again, if man was so made, or 
circumstanced by the Maker, that he must do any given 
act — must, from no matter what cause — I deny that it was 
possible in such case that he sinned. The power without 
him, not himself, was to all human reason really and re- 
sponsibly the adlor, while man should be regarded as only 
the instrument, the machine. The man did not ad ; he 
was a£fed, rather. The executioner of the criminal is not 
held to be guilty of murder, only because he is not sup- 
posed to be the one who takes the life of his fellow, ex- 
cept in the sense that the machine thrashes the wheat. 
As well may we say that the machine is the responsible 
ador, as that man is, where he is absolutely forced to ad. 
I believe it is a didate of conscience in every case, that, 



152- THE LIVING PULPIT. 



where a man could not have avoided doing an ad:, he did 
not sin when he did it. This is a rule of law in the 
courts of every civilized nation, and savage too. 

Now, if MAN sinned in the Garden — and the Bible says 
he did — and was responsible for it— and the Bible says he 
was, in that he was punished for it— it follows that man 
was the real doer of the deed, and the responsible doer, too, 
and that God, therefore, was not. It follows, also, that 
it was not impossible for man to have avoided the sin. 
But if man had such power in himself that he controlled 
the event — sin — it follows that it was not another's power 
that controlled it ; that is, it follows that God could not 
have prevented sin and left man what he made him, and 
himself the God that he is. So if we allow, as we must, 
that the creation of man and the manner of his being are 
but the outcroppings of the Divine nature, we must con- 
clude that the principles of God's government are such 
that he could not have prevented, and, therefore, did not 
permit man to sin. This same conclusion may be reached 
in a much shorter way, thus : God commanded man to 
not sin. Now, I may assume that God's will, which is 
the essential feature in his every command, has his entire 
omnipotence to execute it, so far as his moral government 
will allow. But his power did not prevent sin ; therefore, 
it could not. And since he could not prevent sin, he did 
not permit it. Again, remembering that sin is the trans- 
gression of Law, it follows that God can not be respon- 
sible for it, either as causing it or permitting it, unless 
we suppose it possible for HIM to violate his own law. 

That the sinner is the responsible agent for his sin, is 
argued from the fad that he is recognized as being able 
to come back, the way being opened, the reasons and 
motives being furnished, and the invitation being ex- 



L. B. WILKES. 153 



tended. That he is ^ble, under these circumstances, to 
come, is proved from the fad that Jesus calls him, coupled 
with the fad that the Savior is too good to be so unkind 
as to tantalize the suffering one with a pressing invita- 
tion, to which he knows the sinner to be unable to re- 
spond. This tender language from the eloquent lips of 
the Crucified One is proof enough for me, that the poor, 
lost ones can come back. 

May all persons come to the Savior in harmony with 
this call.?* I do certainly think that all may come, can 
come, and ought to come, provided they are the charac- 
ters, and will comply with the conditions precedent to 
their coming. But I also think that there are persons or 
charaders who are not included in this call; who, in their 
present condition, ought not or can not come. 

I. The infant is not included for the reason: i. That 
it is not capable of understanding the call ; of receiving 
and acfling upon it. Now, I reason that Jesus would not 
invite a human being to perform an ad, for the doing of 
which he is wholly incompetent. That an infant, but 
a few days old, is entirely incapable of rendering the obe- 
dience implied, I shall not attempt to prove. It needs 
no proof Therefore, the infant is not included. 2. But 
this conclusion must be true for another reason: It need 
not to come. Sin being a negled, disregard, or violation 
of law, and the infant being entirely incapable of any one 
of these things, it has, hence, never sinned, and therefore 
needs no salvation /ro;;? sin. Though it does need a Sav- 
ior, it is not from sin. Salvation contemplates more than 
simply the remission of sins. It includes the redemption 
ot the body, its resurredion, and preparation for the final 
and blessed state of the saved. The child, though not a 
sinner, needs a Savior for these reasons. Moreover, the 



1C4 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Lord declares that unless men shall '^ turn and become 
as little children, they shall not enter into the kingdom 
of heaven." And again : '^ Of such is the kingdom of 
heaven." The necessary implication from these sayings 
is, that the infant child is not a sinner, and needs not to 
come, and is not, therefore, included in the invitation. 

A second class of persons not invited is the righteous. 
Jesus says: ''I come not to call the righteous, but sinners 
to repentance." The "^whole need not a physician, but 
they that are sick." I have long thought that the poor- 
est excuse of the many offered by sinners for not coming 
to Christ is, ''I am not good enough yet;" whereas it 
is precisely because they are sinners, great sinners, that 
they need to come. Such language, too, is presumptuous 
on their part. It implies that they feel themselves capa- 
ble of, to some extent at least, fitting themselves for accept- 
ably appearing before God for his favor. The more or 
the better prepared any sinner is for acceptable approach 
to the blessed Lord, the more plainly does he see and 
keenly feel that he is all unworthy, all unclean. I would 
not be understood as intimating that he has no prepara- 
tion to make. Far from it. He has much of that to do, 
and it must be thoroughly done, else every attempt must 
be a failure. I only mean that he can not, of himself ^ make 
himself any less a sinner than he is; that he can not de- 
dud from the aggregate amount of sins standing against 
him. But if, by the phrase, ''good enough," he means 
only preparedness for co?ning^ the a5l of comings I make no 
objedions. Let that preparation be well made. What 
this consists in, and its radical nature, shall be unfolded 
as we proceed. 

A third class of persons not included in this invitation 
of the Savior is the infidel. " He that comes to God"- — 



L. B. WILKES. 155 



and coming to Jesus Christ is the same thing — '^must be- 
lieve that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that dili- 
gently seek him." (Heb. xi : 6.) '' Without faith it is im- 
possible to please God." ''What is not of faith is sin." 
(Rom. xiv: 23.) From the first of these quotations we 
see that one essential condition of acceptable approach to 
God is faith. From tihe second, we see that faith is essen- 
tial in every case in order to please God. Now, since no 
one would be invited to come who "must" not; and since 
no one would be invited to come who would not please 
God in coming; and since no one can please God without 
faith, it follows that no one without faith is included in 
this invitation of the Lord. In the last of these quota- 
tions we have a principle of broad and universal applica- 
tion. The apostle, having shown what ad:s would be sin- 
ful, and what would not, finally draws the conclusion that 
though an ad should be of such a nature that it might be 
done or be left undone without sin, still, in either case, 
faith must necessarily accompany. I shall not try to 
prove that the stated principle is applicable in cases of 
purely a worldly nature. I apply it only to ads of relig- 
ious worship. To all these it does certainly apply, if not 
to all human adions. Among those ads which the text 
does certainly include, is that one, or all those, by which 
the sinner comes to Jesus Christ, and takes his easy yoke 
upon him. Now, since the Lord Jesus could not, and 
therefore has not, invited any one to take a step or per- 
form an ad that would be sinful ; and since it is shown that 
any ad of worship or obedience to God, performed with- 
out faith, would be sinful, it follows that the infidelis not 
included in this invitation. The reasoning will be the 
same if we should suppose the words, " Come to me," etc., 
to be a command instead of an invitation. (Rom. x: 14.) 



156 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Paul says: "How, then, shall they call on him In whom 
they have not believed?" The answer evidently is, that 
it shall not, as it certainly can not in sincerity be done. 
It seems to me that the way from this orthodox, apostolic 
faith is not long nor tortuous to the conclusion which we 
would establish. Whether this text speaks of the sim- 
ple vocal ad of calling upon God, or whether it includes, 
as it most likely does, all that must be done in order to 
please God and secure his favor, there is one indispen- 
sable condition : faith must first he had. Now, I think 
it easy, leaving the intelligent hearer to exercise but a mo- 
ment's refledion, to draw the conclusion that the infidel 
shall not, can not come to Jesus Christ. And what he shall 
not do, it is morally certain the Savior does not invite or 
command him to do. I leave those who instrud: the sin- 
ner to call on God, in whom he does not yet believe, for 
faith, to settle the conflid: which their pradice involves, 
with both reason and the express word of God. There is 
one mode of escape from this awkward dilemma, to which 
resort is sometimes made. It is said that there are sev- 
eral kinds of faith; that while it is true that one kind, mere 
historic faith, is necessary to calling on God, still the faith 
which is unto salvation may be called for; that the calling 
may be, nay, must be, before this saving faith, and in 
order to it. The first objedion that I make to this reply 
is, that it is not known to be true. The Bible says not 
one word about kinds of faith. It distinguishes between 
a dead and a living faith; but this is a distindion not 
of kinds of faith. It refers only to the fad that a faith 
that does not work is dead, but makes not even an 
intimation that there are kinds of faith. Secondly: But 
suppose that there are kinds of faith, is it known that the 
Apostle Paul had his eye upon a mere historic faith, a kind 



L. B. WILKES. 157 



of minor importance, which, though needed for calling on 
God, is, nevertheless, not the faith which is essential to 
salvation? This is not known to be true, nor is it true. 
The faith of which Paul speaks, is that without which we 
can not please God, that is unto salvation. This con- 
clusion will become apparent by a brief reference to the 
context: ''The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in 
thy heart; that is, the word of faith which we preach; that, 
if thou shalt profess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and 
believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, 
thou shalt be saved. For with- the heart man believes 
unto righteousness ; and with the mouth profession is 
made unto salvation." (Rom. x: 8-1 1.) Thus we see 
(even if we must allow that there are kinds of that which 
is philosophically and Scripturally a unit), that the faith 
of which Paul speaks, is that by which we are justified ; 
that it is a faith of the heart; that it is the faith in order 
to salvation. It is of this faith that the apostle speaks, 
when, at the fourteenth verse, he says that a man can not 
call on God without it. We therefore press the question 
again: How can a man call on God/br it? 

A fourth class, not included in this invitation, is the 
impenitent sinner. Though a man should have faith, if it 
should not work to the breaking of his stony heart ; if 
it should not bring him in deep poverty of spirit and con- 
trition of soul to Jesus, his faith is not of t\id.t degree nec- 
essary to his coming acceptably. This state of things is 
not only possible, but it has adually existed. John xii: 
42 says: " But yet many even of the rulers believed on 
him ; but, on account of the Pharisees, they would not 
confess him, lest they should be put out of the Syna- 
gogue ; for they loved the glory of men more than the 
glory of God." Here we have persons who did adually 



158 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



believe on HIM, but they lacked that degree of faith 
that takes hold of the heart ; hence, they would not con- 
fess him, as, in that condition, they ought not. In such 
a state they could not draw near to the Christ. He would 
spurn them from his presence. Such men will appear to 
come when they may obtain the thing they want — the 
glory of men. I fear that there are many such half-con- 
verted souls in the Church. You will know them by 
their fruits. They are hard to please. Having itching 
ears, they are forever clamoring for teachers who will pan- 
der to, and pamper their carnal appetites. They have no 
gift for doing any earnest heart-work for God. They are 
generally absent from prayer-meeting, and when there, they 
have no heart to work. They are nearly always late at 
church ; and when there they occupy a seat as far from the 
speaker as possible, lest his words of burning force should 
set fire to their stubbly hearts, or unmask their worthless 
and deformed souls. Let the glorious light of the knowl- 
edge of the blessed God flash around them, and beam 
upon them, that they may be driven from the Church, or 
to a speedy and deep repentance. Of all the classes men- 
tioned, this one is most unprepared to come acceptably to 
Jesus Christ. Like the Pharisees, which they are, they 
are whited sepulchers, fair as to the exterior, but within 
are full of rottenness and corruption. 

We are now prepared to answer the question — Who may 
come to Jesus Christ? This we do in the gracious terms 
of the great Teacher: *' Come unto me all you that are 
weary and are heavily burdened." This language is not 
ambiguous. No soul need be at a loss for one moment 
in gathering its meaning. It means what it says, and 
says plainly what it means. The sinner must see and feel 
himself a sinner. This implies faith in Christ. For, 



L. B. WILKES. 159 



where no law is, there can be no sin ; and where the law 
is not perceived^ sin can not be discovered. But the law 
is seen to be law only when it is seen to emanate from 
some rightful source, otherwise it is no more than idle 
talk. Hence, if the sinner sees and feels himself to be a 
sinner, it is because he has seen not only the law as law, 
but that he sees the law-giver as law-giver; that he does 
exercise /^/M in the law-giver. But, as already said, this 
faith must work, must deepen,until the Gospel's light and 
love shine upon the soul, revealing to the sinner's eye all 
its enormous pollutions. His mind rests for a moment 
upon the revealed beauty, purity, and deep loveliness of 
Jesus's charafter and life, and especially of his sufferings 
and "death for our sins, according to the Scriptures;" 
and he feels to exclaim, "O wretched man that I am!" 
Then he looks into his own sinful heart, and it is as 
though he looked into the bosom of night itself. Every 
pain that Jesus felt, which he now sees was for him, he 
feels. Every groan of Gethsemane and of Calvary wrings 
from his penitent and burdened heart an echo of grief — 
deep heart-grief. Like the porter who has carried long 
his burden, and is almost sinkincr under its weiaht, so is 
he burdened by his sins. He is weary and heavily bur- 
dened. Now he mav come, because he is invited to come. 
Now, like the prodigal, he has come to himself, and may 
arise and go to God, assured that he will in nowise turn 
him away. O that ministers, that all Christians, indeed, 
may more faithfully and effedlually point sinners to the 
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Let 
them be earnest as those who plead for life; nay, for some- 
thing that is better than life. But it may be said : The 
sinner should not "come" till he is drawn, divinely im- 
pelled, to "come." But find a sinner burdened and grief- 



l6o THE LIVING PULPIT. 



stricken, such as I have described, and you find one already 
drawn, divinely drawn, to God. No matter how it was 
done, the work is certainly and rightly done. But the 
Savior has told us how it is done. John vi : 44, 45, 
Jesus says: "No man can come to me, unless the Father, 
who sent me, should draw him : and I will raise him up 
at the last day. It is written in the prophets. And they 
shall all be taught of God. Every one that hears from 
the Father, and learns, comes to me." The lesson in this 
extrad: is simple and natural, i. No one can come to 
Jesus whom the Father does not draw to him. 2. The 
sinner first hears, then learns — is thus drawn, and then 
comes to the Savior, with the assurance that he will be 
raised up at the last day. With this agrees Paul, when 
he says : " So, then, faith comes by hearing, and hearing 
by the Word of God." The sublime story of the Cross 
is issued by Jehovah in a proclamation to sinful man. 
He hears and learns the glad tidings of the Father. He 
learns them, as near as may be, in all their unsearchable 
depths of meaning ; in their bearings upon the questions 
of sin and holiness, of life and godliness. He learns that 
this Magna Charta of life and endless joy is so well at- 
tested by evidence homogeneous that there is simply no 
room for doubt. He believes, he feels, he trembles, at 
God's Word — he comes. 

While Jesus was on earth, men might literally come to 
him, though this kind of coming is certainly not the one 
meant in our subject. But, now that Jesus is not here, 
where is the sinner to go ? for I doubt not but that the 
lesson is in as full force to-day as when first pronounced. 
Where shall the sinner go } To Jesus, is the answer. With 
Simon Peter I would say: ''Lord, to whom shall we go? 
Thou hast the words of eternal life." Anciently God 



L. B. WILKES. l6l 



dwelt in the Temple. It was his house. There, and 
not just anywhere, the true worshiper always found him. 
HE has a house now, also. 2 Cor. vi: 16 says: ''For ye 
are the temple of the living God ; as God said : I will 
dwell in them, and walk among them." This is spoken 
of the Church. Again, Paul says that the house of God 
'' is the Church of the living God." (iTim. iii: 15.) In 
Eph. ii: 22 it is said of the Church that it is the ''dwell- 
ing-place of God by the Spirit." In these Scriptures we 
are taught that the Church is the temple in which God 
lives. 

So far as place on earth, for receiving and blessing the 
sinner, is concerned, I doubt not but that the Church is 
that place. The O. S. P. Confession of Faith says of 
the Church : " Out of which there is no ordinary possibility 
of salvation." So I believe. This Church in which God 
dwells by his Spirit, is the body of Christ. So teaches 
Paul (Eph. i: 22,) et al. It is from this stand-point — 
Jesus's capitol for Divine government on earth — that all 
his precepts and commandments, threatenings and prom- 
ises, are issued. It is to the Church — Christ's body, the 
temple of God, the resident capitol of the Godhood, on 
earth — that the sinner must come, in order that he may 
come to Jesus Christ. All the spiritual blessings of 
Heaven are yea and amen to that man who is in Christ 
Jesus. This conclusion receives further, and, I think, 
final confirmation from Hebrews xii: 22, to close of the 
chapter: 

" But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city 
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an in- 
numerable company of angels, to the general assembly and 
Church of the first-born, which are written in heaven, and to 
God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made 
11 



1 62 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



perfed, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and 
to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things 
than that of Abel. See that ye refuse him not that speak- 
eth, for if they escaped not who refused him that spake 
on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away 
from him that speaketh from heaven: whose voice then 
shook the earth : but now he hath promised, saying. Yet 
once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 
And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of 
those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, 
that those things that can not be shaken may remain. 
Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which can not be 
moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God ac- 
ceptably, with reverence and godly fear. For our God 
is a consuming fire." 

From this passage, it will be seen that the Christians in 
Paul's day were taught to believe that in being saved they 
had ''come" to Mount Zion, which, I believe, is literally 
the Church. The term Church, on earth, may not exhaust 
the idea in the expression Mount 7^\QVi\ but I confidently 
believe that it is included therein^ else it is not true, as as- 
serted, that the Hebrew Christians ''have come to Mount 
Zion." They had then come to the Church. Here they 
met the blood of the covenant, the Mediator, the Savior, 
the Spirit of adoption, the spirits of just men made per- 
fed, and, finally, God, the judge of all. This coming and 
meeting was, of course, not the literal or physical coming 
and meeting of persons and parties, as when one man meets 
another on a journey; but the Christians then and now, 
in coming to the Church, the heavenly Jerusalem, enter 
into spiritual and joyous union and communion with all 
the transcendently glorious persons and privileges cata- 



L. B. WILKES. 163 



logued in all the holy oracles of God, so far as they accrue 
to man in the flesh. Of course, when I speak of coming 
to the Church, I mean ^' the Church of the living God." 
There is, or seems to be, as great a mania for inventing 
new churches as new machinery, and for about the same 
reason — to please the dear people. The fashion-mongers 
of infidel Paris are not more intent upon pleasing the car- 
nal longings of their mammon-worshipers, than are creed- 
mongers and sed:-makers to adjust the Church to suit the 
tastes of the world. 

The time for the sinner to come is now. When this 
life Is in danger, man never fails to at once avail himself. 
If possible, of every means of escape or recovery. How 
strange that any one should be less careful of the true 
life — of the life to come. 

But I must state the result — rest. Freed from every 
galling yoke of bondage Imposed by the tyrant sin, the 
soul lifts up its head toward the hills whence Its help 
comes. Now it spreads Its wings for an upward flight, 
and ever and anon It rises. The sense of rest, of the love 
of God shed abroad In our hearts by the Holy Spirit which 
Is given to us. Is the pearl of great price, the very climax 
of blessing here below. With but little change, the fol- 
lowing lines are In point: 

"One hour of passion, so sacred, is worth 

Whole ages of heartless and wandering bliss; 
And, O, if there be an Elysium on earth. 
It is this, it is this." 

And when life has gone on apace, and death's dark, cold 
shadows are settling around, then the soul needs rest, and 
feels most blissfully the value of this gift Divine. 



164 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



It is when the world recedes and disappears, that the 
soul whispers to itself: "Tell me, my soul, can this be 
death?" If so, ''O the pain, the bliss of dying." 

"There remains a rest for the people of God." "Let 
us strive to enter into that rest." 





R "W. Carroll iS. C PiiilisliMs Cinciiinati.O. 



OTIS ASA BURGESS. 



/^TIS ASA BURGESS was born August 26, 1829, in the town of 
^^ Thompson, Windham County, Connefticut. Thomas Burgess, one 
of his paternal ancestors, joined the Pilgrim* Colony in 1637. His mater- 
nal ancestors were of the same stock. 

He remained in Connefticut till eight years of age, when he removed 
to Norwich, Chenango County, New York. The next nine years of his 
life were spent in attending school four months in the year, and working 
the remaining eight months " amid the rocks and stumps of a sterile farm." 
During this time, and when about fourteen, his mother died. This event 
made a strong impression on his mind. His religious training had been 
after the straightest seft of Calvinism, but his mother's death melted him 
down so that he laid aside the "doftrine of the decrees," and began to 
earnestly "seek after God." Accordingly he went through the entire 
programme of the popular method of "getting religion" at the "mourners' 
bench," but did not succeed. Others professed to have "got" it at the 
same meeting, but all his prayers and tears were unavailing. He finally 
concluded that he was either predestined to be damned, or given over to a 
hardness of heart. In this terrible state of mind, he was led to almost hate 
God, and utterly rejeft all revealed religion. 

At the age of seventeen he entered "Norwich Academy," a flourishing 
institution of its kind, about six miles from home. He remained here only 
a few weeks, but made sufficient progress during his stay to teach success- 
fully a common-school during the remaining portion of the year. In the 
spring of 1847 he re-entered " Norwich Academy," and in fourteen weeks 
finished the entire course, except the classics. In the fall of the same year 
he removed to Metamora, Woodford County, Illinois, and taught school 
till the summer of 185 1. At this point he first heard of the Disciples. 
They were vulgarly called "Campbellites," and spoken of in the most 
disrespeftful terms by all the religious parties in the place. Being already 
a scofi^er at religion, it did not require much effort for him to join in the 
general outcry against the Disciples. He formed the most unfavorable 

(>65) 



1 66 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



opinion of them, and was more than willing to believe that they were 
false teachers and mere pretenders. Of course, he did not go to hear 
their preachers, and, consequently, was under this misconception for some 
time. Finally, in the good providence of God, he was permitted to hear 
" Old Father Palmer," as he was familiarly called, preach the Primitive 
Gospel. The discourse was founded on A6ls ii : 38, and was a clear and 
forcible presentation of the Gospel and its conditions. Concerning tl e 
eiFeft of this discourse. Brother Burgess says: **It was new, wonderful. It 
opened a new world. I could scarcely refrain from joining that day, but 
did not fully believe what he said. I had heard that the Disciples had a 
Bible of their own, and, believing this, thought Palmer quoted Afts ii : 38, 
from his own Bible. I was at least positive the text was not in mine." 
But it was there just as he had heard it; and when he went home, and 
saw it in his own Bible, with his own eyes, he could not get away from 
the truth, but confessed, and was immersed on the 21st of July, 1850. He 
soon formed a resolution to go to Bethany College, where he could hear, 
from Mr. Campbell's own lips, the great truths with which he was now 
partially acquainted. This resolution was carried into efFeft in the fall 
of 1 85 1. Arriving at the college with only $4 50, his prospects for long 
remaining there were indeed gloomy, and would have discouraged any one 
with a less determined spirit. He secured boarding on trust, and, by con- 
stant perseverance and industry, was able to work his way through college — ■ 
at one time teaching in the " Primary," at another laboring with his own 
hands at whatever work would best yield a support. 

In 1854 he graduated, and returned to Illinois, and took charge of the 
Church of Christ in Washington, where he remained one year. He was 
next Professor in Eureka College a year, after which he divided his time 
between the churches in Metamora and Washington. In 1862 he took 
charge of the Church of Christ in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he has 
remained ever since. At this point his labors have been greatly blessed, 
the membership of the Church having more than doubled since his con- 
nexion with it as pastor. He has always taken a deep interest in missionary 
work, and was at one time Corresponding Secretary of the A. C. M. S. 

His chief characteristics are energy, persistence, and force. He is never 
idle, knows no such word as fail, and, in whatever department he may choose 
to labor, wields a decided and powerful influence. As a speaker, he is log- 
ical, pointed, and forcible, but gives little attention to the graces of rhetoric 
or the charms of elocution. And yet, if the true orator is the man who 
carries his pointy Brother Burgess need not be concerned about the tinseled 
drapery which is too often the principal staple of modern oratory. 



WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED? 



BY O. A. BURGESS. 



"Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" — Acts xvi: 30. 

IT Is the purpose of the present discourse to answer, in 
the light of the New Testament, the above question. 
To exaggerate Its importance would be impossible ; to 
give it a wrong answer would be fatal to the best Interests 
of humanity, and bring eternal ruin upon the Individual 
soul. The question alike affedls personal interests and 
human destiny, because the race must be lost unless the 
individual can be saved. The Scriptures are vast as eter- 
nity in their generalizations, yet so special that not one 
Infant can draw the breath of life, not one sparrow fall to 
the ground, but thev assure us of the Father's notice. By 
a simple analysis of the question now before us, it will be 
found to contain two distind clauses; one looking to per- 
sonal activity, expressed by the words ''What shall I do;" 
the other looking to entire passivity, expressed by the 
words ''that I may be saved." These two will be found 
to contain not simply the principles Involved In the salva- 
tion of a certain Phlllpplan jailer, but those involved in the 
salvation of every man from that day to this. If a further 
analysis of the question be made, it would be eminently 
proper to emphasize the word do: "What must I do?" 

(167) 



t68 the living pulpit. 



This becomes the more obviously just and necessary, be- 
cause, amid the Babel ideas of salvation, the words '' think," 
*' believe," "feel," ''enjoy," et al.y are almost universally 
substituted for the word do, whereby many are led astray, 
and very few trembling sinners are ever truly answered the 
momentous question involving their salvation; whereby 
also many of the so-called saints are in great doubt and 
perplexity a large part of their lives, because the road they 
travel being life-long, they are tremblingly awaiting the 
end, to know if they are in the right way; whereas, it was 
their most gracious privilege to have certainly known at 
the beginning; and this they would have done, had they 
been answered the question according to Christ, and not 
according to men. But before the question as to what the 
sinner must do can be truly answered, the word "saved," 
in the second clause, must be well understood. What, 
then, is salvation, and in what resped, or from what, is any 
human being to be saved? 

Of course, it will not be necessary to pause here, to note 
any cavils that may arise with reference to the special case 
in hand; for, if any one should so far forget the candor and 
fairness necessary in the discussion of any question, and 
particularly one of such grave import, as to affirm that the 
jailer desired simply to be saved from punishment, because 
the prison-doors were open, or from danger, because there 
was an earthquake, such an one need only be reminded 
that the sequel shows entirely another state of fads ; shows, 
indeed, that the jailer had only been aroused by these 
things to comprehend his own situation, and, to some good 
extent, the charader of the men whom he had imprisoned; 
and that, therefore, he appealed to them in their charader 
as ministers of Jesus Christ; and his willing and imme- 
diate compliance with the terms of their answer to his 



O. A. BURGESS. 1 69 



question shows, beyond honorable dispute, how easy of 
understanding, and how easy of application, was the Gos- 
pel for the salvation of that sinner, and, therefore, for any 
other sinner. 

But from what is man to be saved? If this were to be 
answered in the light of the religion of the present day, 
wherein the uprising and outflowing of joyful emotions is 
to be taken as both the condition and proof of religious 
life, then it could be supposed that to become a Christian, 
or "get religion," is to be saved from all ''the ills that 
flesh is heir to." It may be well- to answer the question 
first negatively, and ascertain from what man is not to be 
saved. The following may be safely affirmed: Christ does 
not propose to save man from the sorrows of this life, for 
the righteous are often most cast. down and afflided; nor 
from the poverty of this life, for the wicked wax rich, 
while the righteous beg bread; nor from temptations, for 
himself was tempted of the devil ; nor from death, for 
Paul and Nero alike go back to dust; nor from eternal 
judgment, for every one must appear before the judg- 
ment-seat of Christ, to give an account of the deeds done 
in the body. From these specifications, showing what 
men are not saved from, it might, almost in great alarm, 
be asked: Pray, then, from what are they saved? The 
first dired and unmistakable declaration on this subjed: 
may be found in the words of the angel to Mary: ''Thou 
shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from 
their sins." This declaration was never changed or modi- 
fied. If Christ made special cases of salvation while he 
was on earth, it was only to demonstrate his ability and 
willingness to perform the great salvation. The great 
objed before him was salvation from sin. Of this the 
prophets spoke; for this John the Baptist prepared the 



170 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



way, saying, " Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away 
the sin of the world." Toward this the whole life of Christ 
tended, and for the consummation of this even his life was 
offered up. Not an offering burnt upon Jewish altar, not 
a lamb bled by the hand of Jewish priest, that did not 
look toward the offering of an acceptable sacrifice for the 
forgiveness of sin. Whatever details of dodrine may here- 
after appear, here, at the very threshold of every religious 
inquiry, stands the unalterable truth, that without the 
shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. If, there- 
fore, the central idea in the offering of Christ was the 
shedding of his blood for the remission of sin, it follows 
that the central idea in the salvation of man is salvation 
from sin. 

There are 'now two features in the question of salvation 
from sin, which deserve particular attention: these are 
salvation from the effeds of sin already committed, and 
salvation from the overt ad: of committing sin. It must 
be apparent to the careful observer that the blood of 
Christ applies primarily and principally only to the for- 
mer, and only incidentally to the latter. Incidentally, 
because to one already washed from the stain of sins past, 
there is supposed to be given a strength to resist sin; a 
strength which comes through a knowledge of Christ, and 
a trust in his name. And it can only be when this strength 
is lost through lusts of the flesh, weakness of faith, or 
general inattention to the means of grace, that such an 
one washed becomes, in the ordinary sense, a sinner, and 
has need again of the cleansing power of the blood of 
Christ. This brings the question, beyond dispute, to ap- 
ply to the sins of the past; and to this Paul bears testi- 
mony, saying: ''God hath set forth Christ to be a propi- 
tiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteous- 



O. A. BURGESS. 171 

ness for the remission of the sins that are past, through 
the forbeamtice of God." This gives the true initial point 
from whence all observations are to be made touching the 
salvation of a sinner, and shows in clear light, and unmis- 
takable terms, that when the solemn question comes — 
*^Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" it is equivalent to 
the inquiry: What must I do to be saved from, or receive 
forgiveness of, my past sins. This may seem reducing 
the question to even too narrow limits. If such a thought 
arise, it will be very readily removed by a few simple ques- 
tions, such as, Why do men need salvation at all? The 
answer: Because of sin. Why is man alienated from the 
life of God? The answer: On account of sin. Why do 
you fear the judgment of God? Invariably and always 
the same answer: Because of sin. If, then, man be freed 
from sin, what need he fear? Not the ills of this life, for, 
though he must bear them, Christ will give him strength; 
not the power of the devil, for, though tempted by him, 
Christ is mightier than the devil ; not the grave, for, 
though he must slumber in it, Christ has lighted its dark- 
ness, and broken its bonds; and surely not the future 
judgment, for, though he must stand there, Christ is his 
shield and his eternal defense. In a word, if man be freed 
from sin, life and death, time and eternity are all his, for 
he is Christ's, and Christ is God's. " Sirs, what must I 
do to be saved" — from my past sins? — is a question, 
therefore, of such vast proportions and infinite import, 
that in it is more of human weal or woe than by the same 
number of words can otherwise be uttered by human lips. 
With the true scope and intent of the word '* saved," 
as used in the text, now clearly marked out, the real ques- 
tion, ''What must I do?" may be considered. It has 
already been intimated that the force of this question is 



172 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



often lost, just at the time its true use is most needed, by 
the substitution of other terms for the word do. To show 
that this word is not the accident of occasion, or the crea- 
ture of the caprice of man, let the Scriptures testify. On 
one occasion three thousand cried out, saying : " What 
shall we doV^ Paul himself, when met by the Savior, in- 
quired what he should do? And the blessings of God, in 
the dispensations of the past as well as the present, are 
pronounced upon those who do his commandments. It 
having already been shown that the salvation spoken of, 
is a salvation from sin, it will plainly enough appear that 
whatever the sinner is called upon to do^ is to be done in 
order to that salvation. One of two things will, therefore, 
follow: there must be something definite in form or doc- 
trine, in the observance of which the sinner may know his 
sins are forgiven, or the answer may depend upon the 
ignorance or caprice of him to whom the question is ad- 
dressed. If the latter be true, revelation may be set aside; 
for if a preacher, "on the spur of the moment," may give 
such answer as seemeth good in his own eyes, all revela- 
tion on that point would be a work of supererogation, a 
proposition so manifestly absurd and wicked that it should 
but be mentioned in order to be rejedled; and yet with its 
manifest absurdity, it is the system at the present time 
most constantly practiced upon among those attempting 
to answer the question, "What must I do to be saved?" 
On the other hand, if there be a definite scriptural answer, 
those receiving and ading upon a wrong answer, their feel- 
ings and imaginations to the contrary notwithstanding, 
will fail to receive the pardon of their sins. 

It is now to be aflirmed that the Scriptures do contain 
an explicit answer to the question in the text; that this 
applied in the days of apostolic teaching equally and alike 



O. A. BURGESS. 173 



to all ; that whatever elements entered into the answer as 
given to one sinner, entered into it as given to every sin- 
ner ; and that, as Christ has not changed his laws, the 
same answer should be 'given to an inquiring sinner to- 
day. If it now be asked, what are the elements which 
make up a Scriptural answer to the question, "What must 
I do to be saved ?" this is the reply: 

I. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 2. Repentance 
toward God. 3. Immersion into the name of the Father, 
and Son, and Holy Spirit. 

These, it will be shown, enter' into each and every in- 
dividual case ; and that whenever the express mention of 
any one or more of these is omitted, that very omission 
will be found as proof that those elements have already 
entered into the occasion, and accomplished their work. 
It will be observed in passing, too, that there was little 
or no delay; that, immediately upon hearing the terms 
of salvation, they were complied with, and the promised 
pardon realized. It is true, indeed, that God requires 
fruits worthy of repentance; but it is equally true that 
he has graciously given the poor sinner the privilege of 
offering a broken spirit and a contrite heart, as richer than 
the pains of penance, and a willing obedience as more 
precious that the fat of rams. 

A few words concerning each of the three above prop- 
ositions separately. 

I. Faith in the Christ. It is much to be regretted that, 
at the very first step toward a religious life, the inquirer 
is met by the disputes of theology and the subtleties of 
metaphysics, until he almost calls in question either the 
reality of religion itself, or the sincerity of those who 
profess it. The great question of faith has not escaped 
these snares. The tendency of the human mind to search 



174 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



for hidden causes, trace remote result^, and attempt deep 
diving, when the truth rests in clear and beautiful light 
just upon the surface, all lend obscurity and darkness, 
rather than dispel the clouds. Faith, for instance, is held 
as a sort of creature of anatomy, liable at any time to re- 
ceive the theological disseding-knife; and, as a student in 
medicine is not supposed to understand the human sys- 
tem until he has dissedled and separately examined every 
part of that system, so it is held that man may not have 
''evangelical faith" until he understands its firstly, sec- 
ondly, etc. How strongly this contrasts with the simple 
Scriptures, three or four of which will give the key to 
the whole subject of faith: 

"These are written that you might believe that Jesus 
is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing, you might 
have life through his name." — John. 

"With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." — 
Paul. 

" Faith without works is dead, being alone." — James. 

Here it must be seen that faith is comprehended in few 
words. It has its objedl, Christ, and testimony that 
Christ may be believed in; its subjed:, man, with motives 
before him to induce him to believe; and its adion or 
works, else it is dead, being alone ; and it thus at once 
and forever lifts itself above the doubtful issues of intel- 
ledual combat, or the di5ia of grave and reverend seniors, 
to that sublime height where, amid the pure and serene 
light of its Divine home, it may make its appeal to the 
heart of man, and offer him the deathless joys of the new 
and better Paradise of God. And this word heart sim- 
ply signifies all the strength of intellect, all the warmth 
and depth of the emotions, and all the services of the life. 
So faith simply says to the inquiring sinner. Lay hold on 



O. A. BURGESS. 175 



Christ with your whole heart, and surrender to him your 
whole life. 

2. Repentance toward God. Repentance, like faith, is 
easy of apprehension when freed from the mysticisms of 
the schools. Repentance may be stated thus: Repentance 
is a sorrow for past sins, and such a sorrow as impels the 
sinner to turn away from those sins, and sin no more. 
Whatever terms may be used to explain or expand this 
statement, they will not add to its value, or increase its 
force. It may be urged, for example, that there should 
be a godly sorrow for sin ; yet what sorrow can be more 
godly or more heart-felt than that which turns the sinner 
away from his sins to sin no more? God does not require 
penance of the sinner. The sooner, therefore, he ceases 
to sin, the sooner he may cease his sorrow ; and as God 
desires joy to fill the heart, it is evident that repentance 
should be a speedy work, so that the man may dry his 
tears and rejoice in God. 

But repentance is said to be "toward God.'* This is 
eminently proper, because his law has been broken by 
the sinner, and his character as a law-maker thereby chal- 
lenged ; for whether man will so acknowledge it or not, 
it is most certainly true that, whenever any law Is broken, 
the immediate efFed: of that transgression is to call in 
question the ability or goodness of the law-making power. 
It is saying to that power, we will take the law into 
our own hands ; we will be a law unto ourselves. Nor 
will it change the issue to complain that the law is based 
simply in authority; for there can be no higher test of 
obedience than by the simple recognition of authority. 
But whether the sinner be regarded as violating a law of 
moral qualities, or a law absolute, in either case he must 
beheld as having committed the gravest of offenses against 



176 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Godj and, therefore, his early and sincere repentance 
should be ''toward God." 

3. Immersion into the name of the Father ^ Son^ and Holy 
Spirit. Of this it need only be said, it is the illustra- 
tive sequence of the above arguments. It places man 
in position to know for himself whether he will or will 
not surrender himself without reserve, and without condi- 
tions, to the authority of an absolute law-giver. And this 
test is put in the form of an immersion, in order that the 
entire burial of the body may show the entire giving up 
of body, soul, and spirit to Christ; and, whereas, no other 
single adt can do this, so no other mode, institution, 
covenant, law, ordinance, commandment, or by whatever 
other name things or principles may be designated, can, 
by a single adl, bring the penitent sinner into relation with 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The ordinance, therefore, 
must not only be immersion, but immersion into these 
three names. 

It only now rem.ains to be shown, that the apostles of 
the Savior taught every man or woman asking what they 
must do to be saved, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
repent of their sins, and be immersed into the name of 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let the case in hand, from 
which the text is taken, be the first. The jailer at Phil- 
ippi, but a few hours ago, was nearly or altogether igno- 
rant of the character of Christ and the mission of his 
apostles ; and, under the command of his superiors, united, 
doubtless, with a will of his own, he had inflided needless 
severity of punishment upon Paul and Silas, and thrust 
them into the stocks. He knew little till that night of 
the faith of Christ. It was, therefore, but the didate of 
common sense, as well as Scripture order, that faith 
should be the first thing preached to him. As the preach- 



O. A. BURGESS. 177 



ing proceeded, the simple narrative states that ''the Word 
of the Lord" was preached unto the jailer and those in 
his house. The same hour of the night, the jailer was 
immersed. Now, it is to be admitted, that in the nar- 
rative repentance is not mentioned. To this apparent 
negled: of inspired men to present an element of the 
Gospel so important in the work of salvation, there may- 
be two answers: first, the dodrine of repentance is held 
by all religious people to be of such consequence that an 
inference in its favor in this case might be presumed, and 
the concurrent assent of such wcRild be, as is often done, 
taken by the inquirer as sufficient evidence of its neces- 
sity ; second, and without this mere argumentum ad hominem^ 
it is the true argument, simply to remind the querist or 
objedor that ''the Word of the Lord" was preached to 
the jailer, and that repentance was an integral part of 
" the Word of the Lord," since the Lord himself had 
commanded that repentance and remission of sin should 
be preached in his name among all nations. 

Paul and Silas could not, therefore, have been true to 
their Master on that occasion without preaching the en- 
tire Gospel. The history of the jailer now stands thus: 
That faith was preached to him, is known by positive 
declaration of Scripture; that repentance was preached to 
him, is known by inference amounting in effedl to demon- 
stration; and that immersion was preached, is also known 
by declaration of Scripture, for he was immersed the same 
hour of the night. To determine the immediate effed: 
of all this upon the jailer as touching his question, "Sirs, 
what must I do to be saved?" the Scriptures declare that 
he rejoiced, believing in God with all his house; and, if 
rejoicing is to be taken as an evidence of pardon, as so 
commonly held, or as properly held, the effed of the 
12 



178 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



knowledge of pardon, then, in either case, it must be con- 
ceded that the jailer obtained, the same hour of the night, 
just the salvation for which he asked. 

Here the whole subje6l of this discourse might be 
rested, in the confident assurance that, as the Scriptures 
can not contradid themselves, the answer to a sinner at 
Philippi would be equally good in any other latitude or 
longitude of the world; and the answer, because eighteen 
hundred years old, is more than eighteen hundred times 
better than answers of more modern date and more pop- 
ular fashion, its very antiquity taking it into the purity 
of apostolic teaching. But it has been promised to be 
shown that, the other cases of the New Testament contain 
the same elements in answer. Let the attention, then, 
next be turned to Ads ii: 37, 38. Here, in efFed, is the 
same question — What must we do ? The answer, prop- 
erly enough, begins with repentance. Faith is not men- 
tioned. Here, too, the argumentum ad hominum might be 
resorted to. Every body holds faith necessary to salva- 
tion ; and, therefore, every body will hold that faith was 
in some manner connedled with this occasion, though not 
mentioned. The solution is, they were pricked in their 
hearts, and thus gave, in the estimation of the apostles, 
sufficient evidence of faith ; and, without wasting words 
on learned disquisitions on faith, its parts or philosophy, 
the apostles moved right forward, commanding every one 
of them to repent and be immersed. In this they were 
promised the pardon of their sins, which, obeying, they 
received, as evinced by their rejoicing and gladness. In 
this, as before, it is found that faith, repentance, and im- 
mersion were preached in answer to the question, "What 
shall we do to be saved .^" and that, without delay, the 



O. A. BURGESS. 179 



terms were accepted, the salvation obtained, and their 
hearts made glad. 

Let Paul's conversion come next. He asked diredly 
of the Lord what he should do. The Lord honored him 
with no other answer than to go into Damascus, and there 
it should be told him. Then the Lord sent to him 
Ananias, who made a long sermon very short, by simply 
commanding him to Arise and be immersed. Paul obey- 
ing, straightway received his sight, ate his food, and was 
told without delay to preach the faith he once labored to 
destroy. In PauFs case, doubtless, above all others, the 
tricks of the sophist could be brought to bear, to show 
that nothing but immersion was preached to him ; and 
thus give a far more plausible plea for salvation by water 
alone, as the Christians are sometimes slanderously re- 
ported as saying, than could be found for others in the 
plea for salvation by faith alone. But the Christians 
make no such plea. Paul, like others, had received, on 
his way to Damascus, abundant evidences on which to 
build a faith in Christ. He had, in the very blindness 
with which he was stricken, a clear vision of his sins, of 
which he at once repented. There remained but one 
thing to save him from his past sins, and that Ananias 
immediately announced — Arise and be immersed. It is 
not to be doubted but Ananias might have discoursed 
eloquently on faith in all its parts; on repentance in all 
its emotions ; but no such work was needed. The dis- 
course that was needed was given, was obeyed, the salva- 
tion obtained, and the great question, *' What must I do ?" 
again answered in the same terms, *' Believe, repent, and 
be immersed." 

It will now be proper to point out the chief characfler- 
istic on account of which these three instances have been 



l8o THE LIVING PULPIT. 



made representative. It is this: that at whatever point 
the preaching was needed, that being determined by the 
fads in the case, just at that point the ■preaching began. 
Thus, with the jailer, it began with faith, and ended with 
immersion; with the three thousand it began with repent- 
ance, and ended with immersion; and with Paul, it began 
and ended with immersion. In one of these, the mention 
of faith is omitted; in another, the mention of repentance; 
and in the other, the mention of both faith and repent- 
ance. Now, it has particularly been shown that these 
were not absent in fad: because absent in name; and this, 
too, not because any body doubts their presence, but in 
order to show the proper argument for their presence, viz., 
that ''the Word of the Lord" was preached; for while, 
by a common consent, the sedaries admit the presence of 
faith and repentance, even by remotest inference, they are 
equally ready to exclude immersion, though it be plainly 
mentioned. The burden of the argument, therefore, has 
been to repudiate the mere common consent plea, and 
show that if "the Word of the Lord" can not be preached 
without preaching faith and repentance, neither can it be 
without preaching immersion. And every candid person 
must admit that we have the argument clearly, since, in 
the three cases already used, or in those about to be used, 
the mention of faith and repentance is often omitted, the 
mention of immersion never. 

No matter now which way the attention be turned, 
these principles remain unchanged. If the Ethiopian be 
inquired of, he will simply narrate that while reading 
Isaiah, without so much as knowing whether the prophet 
spake of himself or some other man, a preacher came 
along, and, beginning at the same Scripture, preached 
Christ. Not a word of the details of the sermon is given, 



O. A. BURGESS. l8l 



but a result reached is plainly stated: they came to a cer- 
tain water, and the Ethiopian was immersed. . If the Sa- 
maritans be inquired of, they simply respond that they 
believed Philip preaching the things concerning the king- 
dom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, and were im- 
mersed, both men and women. The city of Corinth gives 
the same response, for, many .of the Corinthians hear- 
ing, believed and were immersed. Sister Lydia's heart is 
opened, and immersion immediately follows. If Peter and 
the Gentiles are sought after, that bold apostle is found 
demanding who dare forbid water for a grand immersion. 
And if the palaces of the Eternal City, so long echoing to 
the tread of the mighty Caesars, be laid under contribution, 
behold, Paul is there, though in clanking chains, declaring 
that every Roman that received Christ had been immersed 
into him. Galatia and Colosse add their testimony, until, 
like colossal monuments, these truths tower to the very 
heavens, more splendid than gilded palaces, and more du- 
rable than marble and brass. 

To make now a brief note of the negative of this whole 
subjed, there will be found but one argument that ever has 
assumed even the show of plausibility; this is in the ques- 
tion, '' What shall I do ? " as addressed by a certain young 
man to the Savior. Various modifications of the same 
objedion are found, as in the thief on the cross. These, 
however, will all receive the same answer. If, indeed, the 
answer which the young man received be taken as the 
standard, it would be quite as well to desist from all ef- 
forts to save men; for a part of that answer was, '*Sell all 
thou hast, and give it to the poor." Such a method of sal- 
vation failed even in that case, though it was received from 
the Savior's own lips. There must be something wrong, 
either in the answer or in its application; the former can 



1 82 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



not be true, for the Savior could not fail to suit the occa- 
sion; the mistake, therefore, must consist in attempting 
to make a general application of a special case, for nowhere 
afterward did Christ command that method of salvation 
to be preached. The same is true of the thief on the cross, 
and all similar cases of special salvation. The answer 
to the whole objedlion is, that while Christ was on earth, 
he used his power to forgive sin, as his power to raise the 
dead, just as it seemed good in his own eyes; but, being 
about to depart from earth, never more in person to min- 
ister to the wants of men, he gave to his apostles a short 
and simple law, which should be equally applicable to the 
beggar and the prince, and in the acceptance of which all 
might be saved. This law he commanded them to preach 
in all the world, and this law contained the three terms, 
Faith, Repentance, and Immersion. If, therefore, any man 
or woman will inquire " Sirs, what must I do to be saved ? " 
let them consider for themselves how far their desire for 
salvation has already led them; if so far that they believe 
in Christ, let them repent; if so far that they have re- 
pented, let them be immersed; and let this be done accord- 
ing to Scripture example, immediately, that they may know 
they are pardoned, and be filled with joy and gladness. 
Moreover, let the servants of Christ, to whom such a 
momentous question may be addressed, consider well the 
occasion and surroundings, and, if like the jailer, there be 
an ignorance of Christ, let faith first be preached, but im- 
merse, if need be, the same hour of the night; if like the 
three thousand, they already believe, preach repentance, 
and immerse the same day; but if like Paul, there be but 
one thing lacking, preach that one thing, and if the in- 
quirer be as honest as Paul, he will be immersed straight- 
way. 



O. A. BURGESS. 183 



Thus, In any and under all circumstances, when a sin- 
ner cries out, ^* Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" the 
answer, in clear and explicit terms, is always at hand: 
" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, repent of, and turn 
away from, your sins, and be immersed into the name of 
the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." 

Happy is that minister of Christ, who knoweth to give 
such an answer; and thrice happy that man or woman hon- 
est enough and humble enough to receive and ad: upon it, 
for they shall receive remission of sins, and rejoice with 
joy unspeakable and full of glory. 

May the day be not far distant, when the jargon of 
doubtful creeds, and the disputes of zealous sedaries shall 
be displaced by the Divine symmetry of heaven's own 
truth, and the earnest pleadings of a united Church; when 
salvation shall flow as a river, and all the ends of the earth 
be saved. 







cfe-^::'-^ 



X- 



^^^=^ 



"R.^W CaD-oU &•. C^PiiliJinliers.Cmonuali.U. 



GEORGE W. LONGAN. 



TT^EW of our readers, outside of Missouri, are familiar with the name of 
■'' this excellent brother. His labors have been confined chiefly to his 
native State, and even there, seldom, i£ever, operating beyond the southern 
portion. Although he has contributed some able articles to our periodi- 
cals, these have generally appeared without his proper signature, and, con- 
sequently, have done little or nothing toward introducing his name to the 
people. He is esteemed, however, by those who know him, as one of the 
ablest and most useful men among the Disciples in the State where he re 
sides. 

George W. Longan was born in the town of Chariton, Missouri, 
December 31, 1819. Missouri was then a Territory, and as he has always 
lesided -there, he is quite familiar with the history of that young, but 
rapidly-growing State. 

His parents removed from Virginia to Kentucky, and thence to Mis- 
souri. They were poor, and went to Missouri soon after their marriage, 
in order to identify their fortunes with that promising country. The 
lather was a member of the first Legislature of the State after its admission 
into the Union. Reared in a frontier country, where there were no col- 
leges, and few good schools of any grade, the son had little or no opportu- 
nities to obtain a first-class education. But, by diligent application to study, 
he acquired a fair knowledge of English, and also made considerable pro- 
gress in Latin; so that he is now a respedlable scholar, notwithstanding the 
difficulties under which he has had to labor. He is emphatically a self- 
made man, and has all the vigor, zeal, and independence that usually char- 
afterize that class of men. 

His parents were Baptists, but, after a careful examination of the Word 
o." God, he embraced the views of the Disciples, and was baptized by the 
well-known evangelist, Allen Wright, in 1 844. In forming his religious 
conviftions, he was much indebted to the writings of Alexander Camp- 
bell, and especially the translation of the New Testament, which he pub- 
lished with prefaces, annotations, etc. Referring to his religious position, 

(185) 



J 86 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Brother Longan says : " When I became a Disciple, I stood alone among 
my relations ; not one of them, so far as known to me, occupying the same 
ground." His only uncle on his father's side was a pioneer preacher among 
the Baptists, of great natural ability and large influence. 

He commenced preaching about two years after his immersion, but for a 
number of years was very much circumscribed in his labors, having to toil 
on a farm or in the school-room to support his family, preaching only Sat- 
urdays and Sundays, and that almost entirely at his own expense. In speak- 
ing of those discouraging times, he says : *' The brethren were very few in 
the seftion where I then lived. I remember when brother William Wil- 
liams, who still lives, was the only advocate of the ancient order of things 
in the bounds of my acquaintance — perhaps in several counties." 

More recently he has devoted himself almost exclusively to the preach- 
ing of the Gospel, and although he has never been noted as a successlal 
recruiter, his labors have not been in vain in the Lord. He has done 
much toward giving permanent success to the cause in Southern Missouri, 
and is justly regarded as one of the ablest preachers in the State. His 
present field of labor is Sedalia, Dresden, and Warrensburg. 

As a speaker, he addresses the judgment rather than the passions ; is 
more of a logician than a rhetorician or elocutionist; is devoted to the 
primitive Gospel, and has no faith in innovations or improvements in re- 
ligion. As a close, logical reasoner, with either the pen or tongue, he has 
few superiors in the ranks of the Disciples, though his natural modesty, as 
well as the unfavorable circumstances by which he has been surrounded, 
has kept him from becoming very generally known. 



THE CONDITIONS OF THE GOSPEL 
REASONABLE. 



BY G. W. LONGAN. 



"For the Jews ask for a sign from heaven, and the Greeks demand a 
system of philosophy; but we proclaim a Messiah crucified, to the Jews 
a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks a folly ; but to the called themselves, 
whether they be Jews or Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom 
of God." — I Cor. i: 23, 24, (Conybeare's Trans.) 

JESUS, the Son of God, is the great central personage 
of the Divine history. All human charaders, how- 
ever great and good, are subordinate to him, and their 
names appear in the Sacred Volume only because of the 
relationship they bear to him in his fleshly lineage, or m 
order to the better unfolding of his mission of mercy to 
the world. So the Cross of Christ is the grand central 
idea in the System of Redemption. Every other concep- 
tion in the wide range of revealed truth is subordinate to 
this, and is more or less important, as it is more or less 
closely related to this grand center of the remedial econ- 
omy. '^ Christ," the " Cross of Christ," and ** Christ cru- 
cified," are to be taken as comprehensive generalizations, 
including every precious truth which enters into that won- 
drous system revealed upon the blessed pages of the Book 
of books. To preach '* Christ," or '^ the Cross of Christ," 

(^87) 



1 88 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



or ''Christ crucified," is, therefore, to preach the Gospel 
in its broadest amplitude. "Philip began at the same 
scripture, and preached to him Jesus. And as they went 
on their way, they came to a certain water, and the eunuch 
said, See, here is water ; what doth hinder me to be bap- 
tized ? " Here we learn that " to preach Jesus " is to preach 
the whole Gospel. When Philip preached Jesus, the eu- 
nuch learned that it was his duty not only to believe, but 
even to be baptized. The expressions "Christ" and 
" Christ crucified," in the text, are clearly to be under- 
stood in the same way. They stand for the entire Gospel. 
Of this, I presume to say, there can be no doubt whatever. 
Substituting, therefore, for "Christ crucified" its proper 
equivalent. Gospel of Christ, and omitting, without vio- 
lence to the meaning of the apostle, what is unnecessary 
to my present purpose, we have the following somewhat 
startling proposition distinctly enunciated, viz.: The 
Gospel of Christ is both the power and wisdom of God. 
To the latter affirmation in this apostolic deliverance I 
propose to call your attention in this discourse. I shall 
accept the apostle's words in the fullness of their meaning. 
I am troubled with no skeptical misgivings on this ques- 
tion. I believe, with my whole heart, that the Gospel of 
Jesus Christ is the wisdom of the infinite Jehovah. I 
shall proceed to give some of the reasons for this faith. 

The created universe, in all its visible, tangible, sub- 
stantive forms, is merely phenomenal. Change is written 
all over it in legible charadlers by the finger of the Almighty 
himself. The mighty forces which are ceaselessly working 
throughout the domain of matter only obey his behests, 
and accomplish the counsels of his will. That will is law 
to the farthest bound of the creation, and in that which is 
purely material has never been disobeyed. Laws which are 



G. W. LONGAN. 1 89 



but the outgoings of the will of Jehovah, underlie all the 
sublime and wondrous manifestations beneath us, above 
us, and around us. It is impossible for a thinking man 
to escape the conclusion that God works throughout nature 
by laws as eternal as are the foundations of his own throne. 
The laws of mind are no less fixed and unchangeable than 
the laws of matter. The principles which form the basis 
of God's moral government are as immutable as those by 
which he determines the manifold phenomena of the phys- 
ical creation. Whatever is reducible to necessary principles 
is, therefore, in harmony with the highest wisdom. If, 
then, the Gospel of Christ, in all its provisions and in all 
its requirements, is based upon unchanging principles, and 
springs up necessarily from the very relations which sub- 
sist between God and men, for whom it is intended, then 
is God's wisdom in giving the Gospel vindicated, and our 
obligation to obey it certainly established. The enlight- 
ened Christian does not fear an appeal to reason. He does 
not deify reason, and fall down and pay it idolatrous hom- 
age ; he does not depend upon it for the knowledge of God, 
nor dare to rationalize into myth and fable the teachings of 
the Divine Word ; but grounding the highest and holiest 
beliefs of his heart upon that Word, and accepting every 
sentence and every syllable as divine, he does not fear 
either the logic or the laugh of any daring infidel who may 
assault the faith that sustains his soul.. He believes that 
as right reason is from God, and is one of his best gifts, 
so God's Gospel, though confessedly above reason, is, 
nevertheless, in perfed harmony with its most exalted 
demonstrations. 

If these premises are true, then everything in the Gospel 
has its reason. Nothing has been done without an end, 
and nothing is required without a necessity. When God 



190 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



sent his Son into the world, there was a reason for it; there 
was an end to be gained that could not be gained in any 
other way. When Jesus died, there was a necessity for it. 
It was not merely an arbitrary arrangement, that might 
as well have been dispensed with as not. God does noth- 
ing without a reason ; so in the conditions of the Gospel 
there is a reason for every thing that God requires. There 
is no condition imposed without a corresponding necessity. 
God does nothing without a reason himself, and demands 
nothing without a reason from men. If the Gospel of Je- 
sus Christ is reasonable, then it is adapted to man as he is; 
to man in his present attitude to God's throne, and law, 
and government; to man in his relations to time and to 
eternity. Such an adaptation demonstrated, and the Gos- 
pel is shown to be Divine, and its wisdom vindicated as the 
wisdom of God. 

The Gospel scheme is built upon the assumption that 
men, in their present relations to God, are sinners. There 
is no attempt in the Bible to develop this conclusion by 
logical processes or philosophical speculation. The first 
preachers of the Gospel proceeded in this matter very much 
as Moses did in opening up to the world the grand drama 
of the creation. He does not philosophize to establish 
the existence of Jehovah, but breaks upon us suddenly 
with the startling announcement, "In the beginning God 
created the heavens and the earth." So the apostles ap- 
proach men just as though it were a patent and undeniable 
fad that all are sinners. They appeal to universal con- 
sciousness, and all hearts respond to the appeal, as the eye 
to light, or the ear to sound. 

The Gospel is intended for sinners. It is adapted only 
to sinners. If, therefore, men are not sinners, they do 
not need the Gospel. If men are not lost, or in danger 



G. W. LONGAN. I9I 

of being lost, they do not need a Savior. If men are not 
guilty, they do not need forgiveness. Gome, then, scoff- 
ing infidel, laughing at the wisdom of God with heaven - 
defying presumption, as though it were worse than human 
folly, come, meet us now at this first step in our investiga- 
tions, and overturn the very foundation upon which the 
Gospel rests. Deny, if you will, that you are a sinner. 
Let there be no faltering here. Meet the issue like an 
honest man. The day is coming when the secrets of that 
heart can no longer be buried in the mysterious depths of 
your own consciousness. Be candid, speak out, and let 
heaven witness the integrity of your avowal. 

There never was a heart thus questioned that answered 
honestly, but the answer was the same. ''There is none 
righteous, no not one; there is none that understandeth; 
there is none that seeketh after God; they are all gone out 
of the way; they are altogether become unprofitable; there 
is none that doeth good, no not one." Such is the uni- 
versal proposition that underlies the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
If this be not true, the Gospel is a delusion, and Jesus 
an impostor and cheat. But this true, and we have the 
first link in that grand chain of adaptations that demon- 
strates the Gospel to be divine, and vindicates the wisdom 
of God in the redemption offered to the world. God is 
the rightful Lawgiver in the universe which he has made. 
All men on earth, as well as all angels in heaven, are under 
law to him. The eternal distinction between right and 
wrong has been disregarded. Our entire race has trampled 
upon the Divine will and defied the Divine authority. If 
these things are not so, then the axiomata of science, the 
intuitions of the understanding, are a delusion, a dream, 
and all human knowledge a myth, a fantasm, an airy gam- 
bol of the unbridled imagination. The first great want of 



102 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



our race is, therefore, the favor of an offended God, the 
forgiveness of sins, the salvation of the soul. Deep in the 
recesses of every heart, that has by law obtained the knowl- 
edge of sin, reposes this convidion. You could as easily 
overturn the very foundations of all thought and all faith 
as eradicate this convidion, thus obtained, from the soul 
where reason holds its sway. 

Assuming, then, as a great first truth this undeniable 
fa6t regarding our relations to the God that made us, the 
Gospel comes to us tendering a heaven-originated remedy 
for the danger to which we stand momentarily exposed. 
It offers pardon of sin, peace with God, and a home in 
heaven. If this Gospel is divine, then there is balm in 
Gilead; there is a physician come to us whose skill we may 
trust with a confidence that knows no fear, and is strong- 
est still when the storm-cloud of danger lowers darkest 
above us. But if this Gospel is not divine, then is the 
world a desert waste, and life a burden to be borne with 
ceaseless sighs and tears. 

In the Gospel tender of salvation, every thing is based 
upon what Christ has done for us. His blood is '' the 
fountain for sin and uncleanness." He, himself, is the 
"Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world." He 
is the antitype of every bleeding vidlim slain as a sin-offer- 
ing from the very morning of time. It is only through 
him that God proposes to be merciful to men, and it is 
only in him that we find peace with God, and the forgive- 
ness of sins. It is no part of my present purpose to en- 
ter into the rationale of this part of heaven's grand remedy 
for human guilt. That a philosophy, as profound as the 
depths of the Infinite Mind, lies at the foundation of the 
death of Jesus, I believe as devoutly as I believe in God, 
or in the conscious emotions of my own soul. But the 



G. W. LONG AN. 1 93 



theme were too broad for my present limits, too grand for 
one who feels himself but a child in the deep things of God. 
Waiving, then, for the present, all inquiries into this sub- 
limest of all subjeds, I pass to consider the conditions 
upon which the tender of salvation has been made. I de- 
voutly believe that these conditions are precisely what they 
ought to be. I am sure there is an adequate reason for 
each step that the sinner is required to take. I am cer- 
tain nothing is demanded which is not worthy of the Jeho- 
vah that makes the demand. To show this to be true is 
my present task. 

It will be perceived that I assume it as certain, that the 
salvation tendered in the Gospel is not an unconditional 
salvation. The Gospel itself is not an universal declara- 
tion of amnesty to sinners without a proviso or a limita- 
tion. The amnesty offered can only be enjoyed by com- 
plying with the terms prescribed. Without the death of 
Christ, the grace of pardon would not, could not, have 
been offered. But with the death of Christ, the wisdom 
of God still declares that other questions are involved, 
which must not be overlooked in granting the boon of 
forgis^eness to the world. These other questions concern 
the status of the sinner himself. Is his present position 
to the law and government of the Almighty such as to 
justify his forgiveness ? No earthly ruler would feel him- 
self authorized to extend clemency to an offender against 
the law, without considering the status of the offender 
himself. Does he realize the magnitude of his crime? Is 
there reason to believe that, if he shall be pardoned now, 
he will not again repeat the offense? How is he at pres- 
ent affedled to the law ? And what reasons are there to 
conclude, if past infra(5lions are overlooked, that he will 
obey it faithfully in time to come? And what influence 
13 



194 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



may the exercise of clemency in this case have upon others 
who may be tempted to similar offenses? Will others, 
seeing the impunity in this case, and looking for a like 
impunity themselves, be thereby encouraged to disregard 
the authority of the state, and trample under foot its most 
solemnly enaded laws? Wisdom demands that questions 
like these shall be duly considered, and the earthly ruler, 
who should ad in disregard of the principles here implied, 
would justly incur the contempt of all right-thinking men. 
In dispensing the clemency of the Divine government, 
nothing is overlooked that Infinite Wisdom perceives to 
be important. Every consideration, bearing however re- 
motely upon the contemplated adion of the Sovereign of 
the Universe, is given all the weight to which it is entitled. 
Every contingency is fully provided for, and all apparent 
antagonisms fully harmonized. In making salvation pos- 
sible, God has done just enough — nothing more. God 
has never performed, since the universe began, a single 
unnecessary a6t. This his Infinite Wisdom clearly neces- 
sitates. As, therefore, God, in providing salvation, has 
done just enough — no more, no less — so, in granting sal- 
vation, he will demand from the sinner, in the way of con- 
dition, just so much as, and no more than, the eternal fit- 
ness of things requires. God proposes to meet and forgive 
the sinner at the right point. The only reason he inter- 
poses a condition at all, is that Infinite Wisdom declares 
conditions necessary. The conditions must, therefore, be 
just so many as this wisdom demands. If the sinner can, 
by making a single step, put himself into a position where 
it will be proper for God to meet him and forgive him, 
then he will be required to make only that step. If more 
than one step is required, it is because Divine Wisdom 
perceives that more than one step is necessary. I there- 



G. W. LONGAN. 195 



fore reiterate the position, God in the Gospel proposes 
to riieet the sinner in precisely the right place. There is 
no reason why there is a single unsaved sinner on earth 
to-day, other than this one, viz.: that all sinners do not 
stand in such an attitude to God's law and government as 
to make their salvation possible according to the perfect 
wisdom in which that government is administered. What 
else can be in the way of salvation? What else can ob- 
strud the free course of the love of God. If it were 
simply a question of philanthropy, God would save every 
body. If it were a question ©f physical power, he would 
save every body. Just at this point the Calvinist and 
the Universalist are alike crazy. The one will have it, 
because God is sovereign, and some are lost, that, there- 
fore, from all eternity, God willed and determined them 
to endless perdition; while the other, with a well-afFeded 
pathos, persistently declares that God is good, and all, 
in the end, must* be saved. There is more involved in 
this matter than either of them has ever dreamed. Infi- 
nite Wisdom made man a free agent, and Infinite Wis- 
dom will not ignore that agency in saving him. God wills 
the salvation of men, but not upon principles that might 
loosen the foundations of the eternal throne. God wills 
to save the sinner, but the sinner must put himself in a 
position where God can bestow the boon in harmony with 
unchanging and«eternal laws. One such law violated, and 
the universe would never recover from the shock. The 
reign of chaos would come again. 

As regards the salvation of men, God has removed out 
of the way every obstacle that he could remove. Of that 
which was necessary to be done, every thing which de- 
pended on his agency alone, has been done. Every diffi- 
culty on the side of the Almighty has been taken out of 



196 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the way. Antagonisms seemingly to man irreconcilable, 
have been fully harmonized in the Great Sacrifice, and now 
all that remains is for the sinner himself to move in the 
matter. Will he put himself in a position where the love 
of God and the blood of Christ can reach him ? This is 
now the great question on which hangs the eternal weal or 
woe of the entire race. 

What, then, must the sinner do? How many are the 
steps he is required to make? What are those steps? I 
answer: He must believe in Jesus Christ; this is the first 
step. He must heartily repent of all his sins; this is the 
second step. He must be solemnly baptized upon a con- 
fession of his faith in the Son of God; this is the third 
and last step required in the Divine arrangement. Now, 
I affirm that the hand-writing of the Almighty is as clearly 
legible here, as in any one of the tens of thousands of adap- 
tations in the physical universe. I do not now argue the 
New Testament authority for the successive steps here laid 
down. For the present, this is assumed. I only assert that 
the offer of pardon, on these conditions, may be vindicated 
by an appeal to reason. I declare it as my convidion, that 
traces of the wisdom of Jehovah may be as clearly discov- 
ered here as anywhere in the universe. Let us see. 

The sinner can do nothing to change the past. This is 
clearly impossible. The conditions of the Gospel are not 
then intended for this purpose. The past, with its hopes 
and its fears, its joys and its sorrows, is now history. The 
poor sinner can not undo a single deed, or cancel a single 
sin. No faith, however genuine, no repentance, however 
deep and sincere, no a6t of obedience, however plainly com- 
manded, and however necessary to be performed, can affed 
a single transadion in the record already made. The things 
to be done now, can only affed: one's present attitude to the 



G. W. LONGAN. I97 



law and throne of God. More than this is simply impos- 
sible. Omnipotence even (with reverence I speak it) can 
not change the past. God can forgive sin, but can not 
change the fa6t. At whatever point, therefore, God may 
meet and forgive the sinner, it is clearly an ad of grace. 
It does not matter how many steps the sinner may be re- 
quired to make, the principle is just the same. It is just 
as much grace if three steps should be required as if there 
were but one. This is too clear to require further argu- 
ment. All that the sinner can do, is to put himself in the 
proper attitude. The conditions of the Gospel accomplish 
this much, and nothing more. This is all that is possible 
to him, and, blessed be God, no more is required. For- 
giveness is a merciful boon, an unbought gratuity; and yet 
all men are not in a proper condition to receive it. The 
very laws which influence the being of Jehovah himself, 
forbid the extension of this boon to any who will not stand 
where it may be consistently bestowed. The point where 
God proposes to meet the sinner, is, therefore, the point 
indicated by his wisdom as the proper one. In the face 
of all the religious and irreligious skepticism of the day, I 
declare it as my firm convidion, that right reason harmo- 
nizes with the Word of the Lord in locating the forgiveness 
of sins immediately after the third step in the pathway of 
obedience. I am not ashamed of the Gospel. I maintain 
that its conditions are wise and just, and shall stand by 
and defend them as such till the Lord comes. 

I lay it down as self-Qvident, that while the sinner con- 
tinues to love and practice sin, his forgiveness is simply an 
impossibility. Every attribute of the Divine nature for- 
bids it. He must lay down the weapons of his warfare 
against God. He must cease to rebel against the Divine 
government. He must give up his unholy opposition to 



198 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the Jehovah, whose right it is to rule. This necessity is as 
stern and unbending as the laws which influence the being 
of the Almighty Ruler himself. It springs up necessarily 
out of the very relations that men sustain to God as Law- 
giver of the Universe. Deny this necessity, and you de- 
stroy the Divine government and overthrow its very foun- 
dations. It is impossible, in the very nature of things, for 
God to forgive an impenitent sinner. Every stone in the 
universe would cry out against it. It would excite the 
astonishment of the demons in the infernal regions, and 
fill all heaven with amazement and alarm. It does not 
matter about the Divine philanthropy. It amounts to 
nothing that God is love. It is of no avail that Christ 
has died. Impenitence is an impassable barrier between 
the sinner and his God. Infinite love can not surmount 
such an obstacle as this. Infinite power, direded by In- 
finite Wisdom, can not remove it when the Gospel fails. 
Away with all idle cant about the sovereignty of grace! 
Let us have no dreamy and delusive sentimentalism con- 
cerning Infinite Love. The universe contains no remedy 
for a sinner that will not repent. It is time that this were 
fully understood. It will be too late when the thunders 
of the last day shall burst upon the world. Thousands 
of souls, drugged and crazed with Calvinian nostrums, 
have gone into eternity waiting for the Lord's good time. 
Thousands now are living under the delusion that Almighty 
Love will restore all things in the end. I forewarn you to- 
day that God proposes no remedy for impenitence. He 
appeals to you in the Gospel, and if you will not hear that 
appeal, there is no hope for you. He made you free, and 
will not violate that freedom, even to save you. Can you 
not see, sinner, that you must move in this matter, or go 
down to perdition? God can not come to you where you 



G. W. LONGAN. I99 



are. He spreads wide the arms of his love, and entreats 
you to come to him. Sinner, will you come? The bar- 
rier is on your side, and you alone can remove it. God 
has made you free, and you must use that freedom, or 
perish forever. So decides the Book of God, and right 
reason vindicates the decision. The command to repent 
is not an arbitrary command; it is not a tyrannical edid:; 
it is not an exhibition of authority simply as such, but au- 
thority rightful and unquestioned, grounding its exercise, 
however, upon necessity and the eternal fitness of things. 
This necessity, this fitness of. things, is the reason which 
underlies the command. The existence of this necessity 
is the vindication of the Great Lawgiver in making the 
requirement, and suspending upon our compliance with it 
the forgiveness of sins and the hope of eternal life. It 
were as easy to deny any other self-evident truth in the 
universe as the existence of the necessity here contended 
for. God makes his appeal direct to the honest intuitions 
of the soul, and the response is instant and universal. The 
position is, therefore, immovably established. It is as cer- 
tain as any other proposition in the wide range of human 
thought, that God requires the sinner to repent, simply 
because that, in the nature of things, and from the very 
relations subsisting between the parties, the sinner's for- 
giveness is impossible without it. So let it be understood 
and acknowledged till the Lord comes. 

But why is the sinner commanded to believe? Infidels 
sometimes put on a wise face, and stand up and reason 
against God. Faith, say these wiseacres, is involuntary. 
A man can not help his beliefs, and therefore it is wrong 
that he should be held responsible for them. This is a 
false and dangerous philosophy. A man can help his be- 
lief. A man can help believing a falsehood when the truth 



200 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



is within his reach, provided he will honestly search for the 
truth. I do not believe there is an honest infidel on earth 
to-day that has patiently and prayerfully sought to know 
the truth. A man's beliefs are not wholly involuntary. 
Away with such reasoning against God; there is not a word 
of truth in it. Again: it has been said that there is no 
moral value in faith, and that to justify or condemn on the 
ground of believing or disbelieving, is, therefore, clearly 
preposterous. I grant, freely grant, that faith is not in 
itself righteousness; that it is no moral equivalent for 
obedience to a righteous law. But this is not the reason 
that God requires men to believe. Such is not the philoso- 
phy that underlies this part of the law of forgiveness. The 
reason is here: the sinner can not be pardoned in impeni- 
tence, and he can not repent without faith. Faith is neces- 
sary as a means to an end. Repentance, in this case, is the 
end, and you can not reach it otherwise than through faith. 
''First fad:, then faith, then feeling." The truth must be 
heard, understood, believed, pass through the understand- 
ing into the heart, and thus become the power of God to 
stir the depths of the moral nature. To me, at least, it 
is self-evident that God works every-where by established 
laws, and upon every thing according to its nature. Mat- 
ter and mind are subjed: to different laws, and God does 
not ignore this fad in operating upon them. He influences 
mind, according to the laws of mind. He works upon. 
matter in harmony with its nature. The wisdom of God 
in the Gospel is seen in this, that every thing is adapted 
to man just as he is; to his condition, his relations, his 
organization, to every thing that touches at any point the 
grand scheme of mercy to the world. If it were God's 
plan to change the heart, to renovate the affections by a 
dired touch of the Holy Spirit, then it could be done as 



G. W. LONGAN. 20I 



well without faith as with it, as well without the Gospel 
and where the Gospel has never been, as where it is preached 
and understood. But the plan of the Heavenly Father is 
to take man as he is, to influence him and save him, if he 
saves him at all, in perfed harmony with all the laws of 
his being. In pursuance of this plan, he addresses his un- 
derstanding in the Gospel; he appeals to his heart by all 
the motives and influences contained in the Gospel. This 
is grounded upon a necessity growing out of the very laws 
of thought and feeling. I repeat, I assume it as true that 
God operates throughout the-universe upon every thing 
he has made, in harmony with the nature he has given to 
it. If this may not be taken as self-evident, then there is 
nothing self-evident in the universe, and all human knowl- 
edge is simply a stupendous folly. 

When Jesus opened the eyes of the blind, unstopped 
the ears of the deaf, restored the paralytic, or raised up the 
dead, it is as certain that there was a demand for the im- 
mediate energies of the omnipotent and all-creating Spirit 
as when the universe was made. Nothing less, according 
to the established laws of material things, could meet the 
exigencies of the occasion. But when a soul in ruins is 
to be restored, the work is not the same, neither is the way 
of God the same. God does not work alike upon matter 
and mind. The power that he employs in moving the soul 
would be folly in the work of raising the dead; while the 
energy that brought a Lazarus from the grave would be as 
illy suited to stir the heart with a sense of guilt, or destroy 
in it the love of sin. Purblind, indeed, must have been 
the venerated fathers of denominational orthodoxy, never 
to have caught a glimpse of this grand truth. Strange that 
Doctors of Divinity should stumble where it would seem 
that babes might walk without a fear. The Gospel is the 



202 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



power of God to save the soul. But in the Christ-idea — 
to borrow a happy expression from one whose work of faith 
and labor of love will be rewarded at the resurrection of the 
just* — lies the secret of its wondrous might. Jesus, the 
Christ, is not only the center and sum of all Gospel truth, 
but the center and sum of all converting and saving power. 
The tale of Calvary has stirred more hearts than any other 
tale that was ever told. The Hero of Redemption has 
elicited a higher admiration, a holier love, than any other 
hero that ever lived. The compassion of the dying Jesus 
for sinful men has awakened a loftier gratitude than ever 
throbbed in any heart at the mention of any human name. 
Blessed be God for the mighty, heaven-born energy con- 
centrated in this single, grand idea of a suffering, dying 
Christ. The soul may realize it, but the tongue can never 
tell it. There is more power in this single conception, 
taken in its manifold relations, to elevate the race, to en- 
noble our humanity, to make men better, and truer, and 
purer, than in the speculations of all earthly philosophy, 
from Confucius to Cousin. The Gospel of Jesus is itself 
the highest philosophy known on earth or in heaven. The 
angels in glory bend in astonishment and rapture over the 
stupendous display of God's wisdom in the redemption 
of sinners through the Gospel. In this whole arrangement 
the wisdom of the Infinite One shines out as grandly as 
the noonday sun from a cloudless sky. But the power of 
a fa6l is felt only by those who accept it as a fad:. The 
history of all hearts offers no exception to this law. God 
influences mind according to the laws of mind. Hence the 
Gospel is only the power of God to "the called," to "the 
saved," to " them that believe." By one of those unchang- 

* J. J. Trott, missionary to the Cherokees. 



G. W. LONGAN. 203 



ing laws, therefore, which God will not violate, the influence 
by which repentance is induced is made to depend upon 
faith. Faith is the substratum upon which repentance re- 
poses. You can no more have repentance or a change of 
heart without faith, than you can have a building without 
a foundation. You can not rear a gorgeous temple in mid- 
air. You can not have a superstructure without a sub- 
strudure. God saves man according to the laws of thought 
and feeling. He does not propose literally to create man 
over again in the process of renovation. He comes to him 
as he is. He takes hold of hira with the Gospel, and saves 
him, if he saves him at all, without violence to a single law 
of his nature. From this fixed point, I reason with the 
fullest assurance of understanding. Upon this foundation 
I build without a fear. Sedarian theology unsettles every 
thing, turns every thing into chaos. It has no logical 
foundation. It has no reason and no philosophy. God's 
Gospel is a golden chain of cause and efFedl. Every link 
in this chain has been wisely wrought. Nothing is without 
its reason, nothing without its end. Looking off from this 
stand-point over the long centuries that have passed away 
since this grand Christ-idea was first made known to the 
world, and contemplating what God has wrought by it, 
who can refrain from exclaiming with the apostle: ''O, 
depth of the bounty, and wisdom, and knowledge of God ! 
how unfathomable are his judgments, and how unsearch- 
able are his paths ! Yea, who hath known the mind of the 
Lord, and who hath been his counselor ? or who hath first 
given to God, that he should deserve a recompense ? Unto 
him be glory forever. Amen." 

But what more.'' When the sinner believes in Jesus, 
and is deeply penitent for his sins; when his understand- 
ing is enlightened and his heart is changed, what then? 



204 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Why, then, '^He that believeth and is baptized shall be 
saved." To the law and to the testimony; how readest 
thou? But why be baptized? Jesus commands; is not 
that enough? Nay, but is not the commandment wise? 
And may not its wisdom be vindicated? I answer, yes. 
My faith is as firm, that there is a Divine reason lying 
beneath this Divine commandment, as that God is all-wise. 
Let us reverently attempt to look for it. It may, perhaps, 
lie deeper than our ken, but it can not be wrong to look. 
First, then, I confess that if there were no universe 
beyond God and the single offending sinner, whose case 
may be supposed to be under consideration, I can see 
no reason why baptism should be enjoined. Such a rea- 
son might still exist, but, in such a case, would lie deeper 
than our vision. Were it commanded in such a case, the 
existence of the reason might be inferred with certainty 
from the Divine Wisdom, even though our profoundest 
search failed to discover any trace of it. If, however, 
God and the single sinner were the whole universe, all that 
would be necessary to put the sinner within the reach of 
Divine clemency, seems to be gained, when the sinner be- 
lieves and repents. His understanding is then right, and 
his heart is right. His status is known to himself, and 
fully known to God, and beside these there is supposed 
to be none else. Human reason, it seems to me, in such 
a case, fails to discover a necessity for any thing more. 
But this supposed case is widely different from the real 
case. The sinner, in point of fad, is only one among 
millions equally guilty. And besides the guilty millions, 
there are millions of beings that have kept their first estate, 
and never sinned. In forgiving a sinner, God must take 
into account the moral influence of the adl throughout all 
ranks of created beings under law to him. The point at 



G. W. LONGAN. 205 



which he proposes to forgive the sinner, must be the one 
that all right-thinking subjeds of the Divine government 
will recognize at once as the proper one. The angels 
around the throne must be able to see and vindicate the 
wisdom and justice of the Almighty Ruler. But God only 
can read the heart. In all the universe, the penitent sin- 
ner's status^ until developed in an ov^ert a6t, is known only 
to himself and to God. But he has sinned openly. With 
a bold front he has measured arms with Omnipotence. His 
rebellion has not been confined to his heart. It has not 
exhausted itself in sympathy. Men on earth, the part- 
ners of his crime, have been the witnesses, and angels in 
heaven have looked on with astonishment at his defiant 
airs. Now, what does the nature of the case seem to de- 
mand .^ Where does it appear to be proper that God 
should meet this once bold and defiant, but now humbled 
and stricken, outlaw? Where should God require him to 
stand, when he bestows upon him the boon of a merciful 
forgiveness of all his past sins ? I answer : Out before 
heaven and earth, confessing his guilt, avowing his repent- 
ance, and pledging himself to unflinching fidelity in all time 
to come. His faith and repentance must be embodied in 
an overt ad:, that men and angels can see. Surely this is 
clear beyond cavil. Sinner, in this issue between God and 
Satan, your rightful Lawgiver demands that you shall de- 
fine your position. He requires you to choose whom you 
will serve, and to declare your choice before heaven and 
earth. Are you for your rightful Sovereign, or do you 
stand in the ranks of the enemy? God has established 
an institution, and made it the line of separation between 
his kingdom and that of the opposing power. This insti- 
tution is Christian baptism. In this overt ad, you exter- 
nalize your faith and repentance, and make them visible to 



2o6 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



your fellow-men. In this ad; you formally and solemnly 
dedicate yourself to God. In it, you vow eternal allegiance 
to his throne. In it, all the holy desires and heaven-born 
resolves of the inner man, take upon them an outward 
form, and can be seen and read by your associates. Is it 
strange that God should demand such an expression of 
your faith in him ? such a pledge of eternal fealty in time 
to come? Nay, it would have been strange, indeed, if 
God had tendered forgiveness without it. It has its foun- 
dation in the eternal fitness of things. Its reason is clear 
as a sunbeam. It is not the value of the thing done. It 
is not that it has saving merit in it. It is not that water, 
as such, has power to cleanse from guilt. Baptism is no 
charm. It has in it no mystery. Its sole value is this; 
That as an open, public avowal of your faith and penitence, 
as a formal and solemn dedication of yourself to God in a 
heaven-appointed way, it places you in a proper position 
before heaven and earth to receive the free and gracious 
forgiveness of your past sins. Sinner, why do you hesi- 
tate? Humble, stricken, sin-sick believer, "Arise and be 
baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name 
of the Lord." 

Blessed be God for a reasonable religion ! a religion that 
can be defended alike against the sneers of the bigot, and 
the scoffs of the infidel. To his name be the glory for- 
ever. Amen, 




c,/.. 



■ /J 



c,a/t rcy/c^. 



^?^^/4^^^.^« 



/ 



>^' 



ROBERT GRAHAM. 



^ I "*HIS distinguished preacher and teacher was born in Liverpool, Eng- 
"*■ land, on the 14th of August, 1822. The parents were rigid Epis- 
copalians, and the son was, consequently, brought up in the communion 
of the Established Church. When only fourteen years of age, during a 
protrafted meeting among the Methodist Protestants of Alleghany City, 
Penn., he was deeply impressed with the importance of religion, and was 
led to doubt the correctness of the position he occupied in the Episcopal 
Church. Although failing to experience the miraculous change, which 
at that time was a popular evidence of conversion, he was, nevertheless, 
received on probation, and finally into full membership in the Methodist 
Protestant Church. He was now conscious of a great change in his views, 
feelings, and conduft, but he was still unsatisfied with reference to his re- 
ligious state. There were many passages of Scripture he could not har- 
monize with the teachings of the Church to which he belonged. 

In the fall of 1838 he made the acquaintance of the congregation of 
Disciples in Alleghany City, Penn., and was thus brought to review the 
grounds of his religious belief. This examination led to his immersion, 
on the 17th of February, 1839, ^7 Elder Samuel Church, then pastor of 
the Christian Church in Alleghany City. 

At the time he united with the Disciples he was an apprentice for five 
years, learning" the art and mystery of house-carpentry," in the city of 
Pittsburgh, and, of course, had very little time to devote to literary pursuits. 
Nevertheless, he colle6led quite a library of useful and entertaining books, 
and devoted all his spare hours to the acquisition of knowledge; and having 
joined a literary society, made considerable progress in the study of history, 
Belles-Lettres, Biblical Criticism, Natural Science, etc. 

On the 1st of January, 1843, he entered Bethany College, and, in the 
following year, began to preach for the church at Dutch-Fork, seven miles 
from Bethany, and continued to labor there on Lord's days for three years. 
By the sale of his library, carpenters' tools, the small salary received for 
preaching, and occasional help from President Campbell, he was enabled 

(207) 



2o8 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



to support himself at college. He subsequently returned all the means 
Mr. Campbell advanced, with interest on the same from date. While a 
student at Bethany, he was married to Miss Maria Thornley, of Alle- 
ghany City, Penn. 

He graduated in July, 1847, dividing the first honors of his class with 
A. R. Benton, and delivering the Latin salutatory. In December of the 
same year he entered upon a collefting tour for Mr. Campbell, and spent 
nine months in traveling through several of the South-western States. It 
was during this tour that he co-operated with John T. Johnson, in a pro- 
trafted meeting of great interest, at Fayetteville, Arkansas, which resulted 
in the establishment of a fine church in that place, to the pastoral care of 
which he was soon afterward called. He removed to Fayetteville with 
his family in January, 1849. Here he finally succeeded in establishing 
Arkansas College, an institution which flourished till the war broke out, 
in i86i. 

In September, 1859, he left Arkansas for Harrodsburg, Kentucky, to 
take charge of the Chair of Belles-Lettres and History in Kentucky Uni- 
versity, to which he had been unanimously eledled. He held this position 
one year, during which time he gave great satisfaction to the friends of the 
University. He was induced to resign his professorship in 1 860, and return 
to Fayetteville, with the view of becoming the General Agent of the Southern 
Christian Missionary Society. But the war breaking out, the whole arrange- 
ment failed, and, in the fall of 1862, he took charge of the First Church in 
Cincinnati, Ohio, where he labored with great acceptance till 1864, when 
he resigned and removed to Santa Rosa, California, and preached for the 
church, and taught an academy at that place, one year. He then spent one 
year in San Francisco, and succeeded in establishing a promising church in 
that city. In January, 1866, he was eledled Presiding Officer of the Col- 
lege of Arts, and Professor of the School of English Language and Litera- 
ture, in Kentucky University. He accepted, and entered upon his work 
in the following Oftober, which position he now occupies. 

Robert Graham has a finely-balanced organization — there being perfeft 
harmony between the intelledlual and physical natures. He is of low stature, 
but heavy-set, and weighs about one hundred and eighty pounds. He has 
a bright, florid complexion, large, light-blue eyes, and an orator's mouth. 
He is a ready extemporaneous speaker, and, on a great occasion, is capable 
of exercising wonderful power over an audience. He possesses a strong, 
aftive, sympathetic nature, and this gives him great influence in the social 
circle. Few men have more ability to control the masses, but this is never 
attempted at a sacrifice of dignity, or any charafteristic of a Christian 
gentleman. 



REGENERATION. 



BY ROBERT GRAHAM. 



'*Of his own will begat he us with 'the word of truth, that we should 
be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures." — ^James i: i8. 

IT may be truly said that one-half of all the debates 
about the Gospel arise from a misconception of the 
nature of Regeneration. We are glad to think that many 
persons are regenerated who can not give a consistent and 
Scriptural view of this subjed, even as many are refreshed 
by the cooling spring who know not the composition of 
water, and are regaled by the breeze of heaven who can 
not tell whether the atmosphere is a chemical or a mechan- 
ical combination. But this by no means implies that we 
ought to be satisfied with crude views upon a matter, the 
importance and interest of which are confessed by all; for 
while we may not be regenerated by merely understanding 
the nature of the process, it is equally clear that through 
this knowledge we may be saved from many pernicious 
errors, and become the recipients of greatly increased re- 
ligious enjoyment. 

It is generally believed that Regeneration is one of '^ the 

things hard to be understood;" and, indeed, this is true, 

if we thread the labyrinth by the rush-light of modern 

theology. Following a light so pale and inconstant, 

14 (209) 



2 TO THE LIVING PULPIT. 



"spectres and chimeras dire" will start up on every hand, 
pit-falls will dimly reveal themselves at every step, and 
we shall be in constant danger; but once take the bright 
and sure light of God's Word, follow the guidance of 
Christ and his inspired apostles, and what was dark is at 
once illuminated, the difficulties are bridged, and we find 
ourselves in a hall built as by enchantment, filled indeed 
with wonders, but wonders revealed, not less to warm our 
hearts than to quicken our understandings. To speak 
without a figure, we affirm our convid:ion that with the 
New Testament in our hands, and free from the subtle- 
ties of scholastic divinity. Regeneration, in its source, in- 
strumentality, and purpose, can be understood as clearly 
as any other fundamental item of the Christian revelation. 

As it has pleased God to reveal all for duty and noth- 
ing for mere curiosity, it is our interest and our happi- 
ness to obtain well-defined conceptions of the divine pro- 
cess by which we are quickened to a new life, for herein 
has our Father displayed his kindness to us "who were 
dead in trespasses and sins." His parental love, shown 
in the efficient means and final cause of our regeneration 
may well be to us, as it was to primitive saints and mar- 
tyrs, the theme of perpetual meditation, gratitude, and 
praise. What is there so well calculated to elevate our 
minds as the contemplation of the simplicity and benevo- 
lence of the Gospel, which reveals God's plan of saving 
sinners by faith, and causing their lives to abound with 
the fruits of righteousness to the praise of his glorious 
grace ! 

As this discourse is for those mainly who depend not 
on Greek, but on English, for their knowledge of the liv- 
ing oracles, I shall not speak in a dead language to a 
living people. Moreover, I may say, once for all, that, 



ROBERT GRAHAM. 211 



in my opinion, it is not absolutely necessary to a clear 
understanding of this subjed: that we should draw nice 
distinctions respecting the Greek words rendered in the 
common version sometimes begotten and sometimes born. 
We do not think the apostles, in their use of the words, 
made any refined physiological discriminations between 
generation and birth. With them, our new life in Christ 
begins when we enter his kingdom, and we enter his king- 
dom by a birth of water and Spirit — a process including 
the inception, progress, and consummation of a change in 
both character and state, without which, the Savior says, 
no one can see the kingdom of God. 

We shall then use the words begotten^ regeneration^ and 
horn again — as we apprehend the New Testament uses 
them — to denote a process^ and not an a5f^ without stop- 
ping to inquire, in the case of each passage adduced, the 
particular stage of the process which may be uppermost 
in the mind of tne sacred penman. I feel satisfied, from 
a careful examination, that the New Testament writers 
used the Greek words in their literal sense for both be- 
gotten and being born; and we are confident that, in their 
metaphorical sense, they may be similarly used without 
danger of ambiguity. The reason for this opinion will 
appear as we proceed. 

My method of discussion shall be diredl and simple, 
suited to the humblest capacity, and as best serving the 
end in view. I shall endeavor to show: 
I. The Nature of Regeneration. 
II. Its Absolute Necessity. 

III. Its Blessed Consequences. 

And may he who never withholds his presence and 
blessing from those who humbly seek him, aid us by his 
Spirit, that we may understand the truth as it is in Jesus ! 



212 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



I. The Nature of Regeneration. 

In elucidating this part of our theme the text suggests 
a method at once clear and natural: 

1. The Source of our regeneration — '^ Of his own will." 

2. The Agent — '^He/' that is God, "begat us.*' 

3. The Means— "By the Word of Truth." 

4. The End — " That we should be a kind of first-fruits 
of his creatures." 

This passage sets before us four items in our Regenera- 
tion; as these are fundamental, mistake is dangerous; as 
it is clearly done, misapprehension is perversity. Indif- 
ferent to the beautiful in statement must be the mind that 
does not see in this verse a perspicuity worthy a divinely- 
inspired teacher. Is the first item clear? the second is no 
less evident. Is the third worthy of God's wisdom? the 
fourth is not less so of his benevolence. 

I St. '^he source of Regeneration is the will of God. It is 
alone of God's free and spontaneous volition, afting with- 
out necessity and without constraint, that men are be- 
gotten to a new life: it is of "his own good pleasure." 
Neither is it because of any worthiness in us, as is set 
forth in Titus iii : 5 : " Not by works of righteousness 
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved 
us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the 
Holy Spirit." To keep our minds steadily fixed on this 
essential point, and to introduce — 

2d. T^he Agent of our Regeneration^ we quote a most ex- 
pressive passage from John i: 11— 13: "He came to his 
own, and his own received him not. But as many as re- 
ceived him, to them gave he power to become the sons 
of God, even to them that believe on his name : which 
were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor 



ROBERT GRAHAM. 213 



of the will of man, but of God." The meaning and 
application of this passage are plain. Our Lord came to 
his own people — the Jews — and, with few exceptions, they 
rejedled him : but, to the few that received him, who be- 
lieved on his name, he gave the privilege of becoming 
children of God. The apostle, keeping up the figure 
suggested by the word children, observes that those who 
received him were born, not of blood, nor of the will of 
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 

We become children by virtue of birth. By a birth of 
flesh, we wear the image of Adam ; by a birth of Spirit, 
we wear the image of Christ. Our flesh is born of flesh; 
our spirit is born of spirit. So Christ teaches. ''That 
which is born of the flesh, is flesh; and that which is born 
of the Spirit, is spirit." (John iii: 6.) Being, then, be- 
gotten by God, and born into his kingdom of grace, we 
are his children, and Christ is our elder brother. We are 
to each other brethren, not in Moses, nor in Plato, but in 
Christ. This being taught in very many passages of God's 
Word, and being generally conceded, we may pass on to 
consider the next item. 

3d. T'he means employed in our Regeneration. As this is the 
point about which there is most disagreement, I will be 
indulged, I hope, if I labor it at greater length than would 
otherwise comport with the unity of this discourse. 

" He begat us with the word of truth." This settles 
it that the word of truth is a means. Are we prepared to 
go one step farther, and say it is the means ? We feel so 
constrained. There may be ten thousand secondary causes 
employed to bring men to the knowledge of the word of 
truth, for we and the powers of heaven and earth may be 
employed in carrying the Gospel to those sitting in dark- 
ness, and in the region and shadow of death, just as the 



214 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



air and its happy denizens bear the seeds and pollen 
of fruits and flowers to the ends of the earth. While the 
will of God continues to be the source of our new life, 
and he himself the efficient cause of it, as long as he is 
our Father, so long will his word be "the seed of the 
kingdom;'' and not till plants can be produced without 
seed, and animals without parents, will sinful men be made 
partakers of the Divine nature — the new life in God — 
without ''the word of truth, the Gospel of our salvation." 

But it seems to me that the nature of the case excludes 
every other instrumentality. Does God beget some chil- 
dren by the word of truth, and others by different means? 
It behooves those who so affirm to show it by express 
Scripture statement or necessary implication. This, we 
are confident, never can be done. But the idea that God 
has a way of regenerating men by his word ordinarily, 
and by something else extraordinarily, is not less repug- 
nant to the analogy of nature than contradidory to the 
analogy of faith. Corred: views here are removed equally 
from the extravagance of the fanatic, the obscurity of the 
mystic, and the cold philosophy of the rationalist. 

The common view of Regeneration is that it is an ad 
performed by the Spirit of God before faith, and in order 
to faith; and that by it the heart of the sinner is instantly 
changed from the love of sin to the love of holiness. 
There is great variety of statement, from the wildest rant 
to the most carefully-worded proposition, but in meaning 
they are all the same. In opposition to this, we maintain 
that ''the seed is the word of God," that this is his chosen 
instrumentality, and that when that word is received by 
faith into a good and honest heart, that heart is quick- 
ened into new life. That the Spirit of God is always with 
his word, and that if men are not regenerated the fault is 



ROBERT GRAHAM. 215 



to be found in themselves or the unfavorable circum- 
stances of their condition, and not in the will of God, nor 
the want of power in his word. 

To see what is the teaching of Scripture on a matter so 
vital and interesting, I quote from Peter's first epistle (i : 
22, 23) : "Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying 
the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the 
brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart 
fervently. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but 
of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and 
abideth forever." Can language be plainer than this? We 
are regenerated, not of corruptible seed ; our bodies are 
generated of that, as we are informed by John, but our 
spirits are regenerated of this incorruptible seed of the liv- 
ing God. As he only hath life in himself, he communi- 
cates it to us through his word of truth. What James 
calls "the word of truth," Peter calls "the word of 
God," as the Savior teaches in his sacerdotal prayer, (John 
xvii: 17): "Sandify them through thy truth, thy word is 
truth." 

The Savior, John, James, and Peter do, in these pas- 
sages, teach a simple, but most important truth about Re- 
generation. We have only to remove from our eyes the 
films of prejudice and mysticism to see the admirable 
agreement of all these teachers, and the simplicity of their 
instruction. 

But you are ready to ask me, What is this word of God, 
which Peter, in this connection, calls the incorruptible 
seed of the kingdom.? Read the concluding verses of this 
chapter: "And this is the word which by the Gospel is 
preached unto you." The germ, then, is the word of God 
in the Gospel of Christ. That word was given in charge 
to this man and his fellow-apostles, in the great commis- 



2l6 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



sion to disciple the nations: "Go ye," says Christ, "into 
all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He 
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." Compare, 
now, with this Paul's language in i Cor. iv: 15: "Though 
ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye 
not many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I have begotten 
you through the Gospel." That is, I, Paul, preached the 
Gospel to you Corinthians, by hearing and believing this 
Gospel, in which is the incorruptible seed, you have been 
begotten, and therefore I am, under God, your spiritual 
father. 

That such is the meaning of the apostle is more than 
conjedure. What did he do when he first preached at 
Corinth? In the eighteenth chapter of A6ls, we have the 
report of his labors in this celebrated city, and it is sin- 
gularly explicit: "After these things, Paul departed from 
Athens, and came to Corinth," the account goes on to 
say: "And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, 
and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas 
and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was 
pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus 
was Christ." The result of all this is given thus: "And 
Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the 
Lord with all his house ; and many of the Corinthians 
hearing, believed, and were baptized." Such is the sim- 
ple and unfigurative account of Paul's evangelical labors 
in Corinth. He preached the Gospel, testifying that Je- 
sus is the Christ ; the Corinthians, hearing, believe the tes- 
timony, and are immersed. Were not these persons born 
again? If so, how? It certainly was according to the will 
of God; and is it not just as certain that it was through 
the word of truth? That word was, beyond all cavil, the 
seed of the kingdom — the germ of their new spiritual 



ROBERT GRAHAM. 217 



life. The fad is, language can not make any thing plainer 
than does this passage the following propositions: 

I. The Corinthians heard Paul prove Jesus to be the 
Christ. 

1. They believed his word. 

3. They were baptized. Consequently they were born 
of water and of the Spirit. 

The reference made by the apostle himself in the be- 
ginning of the 15th chapter of his First Epistle to these 
same Corinthians, confirms us in this view, if farther con- 
firmation is necessary. He says: ''Moreover, brethren, I 
declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, 
which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by 
which also ye are saved, if you keep in memory what I 
preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For 
I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, 
how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scrip- 
tures : and that he was buried, and that he rose again the 
third day according to the Scriptures." 

Comparing this passage with the one quoted from the 
1 5th verse of the 4th chapter, and both of them with Luke's 
account in the i8th chapter of Acts, we can not see how any 
unprejudiced mind can avoid the conclusion that to be 
born again is to hear, believe, and obey the Gospel; that 
the Gospel is the good news concerning the death, burial, 
and resurrection of the Lord Jesus; that these prove him 
to be the Christ, the Son of God; that this is the great 
central truth — the germ of spiritual life — which received 
into a good and honest heart, by faith, becomes the incor- 
ruptible seed of which we are begotten of God; and that 
when we are baptized into Christ according to the Gospel, 
and come forth out of the water, we are born of water and 
the Spirit. I confess that if this be not to be born again, 



21 8 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



then is the whole thing a myth, and Christ's teaching to 
Nicodemus incomprehensible. 

How natural it is that Paul should say, (Philemon, loth 
verse,) that he had begotten Onesimus in his bonds; and 
we can be at no loss to understand his meaning. Again, 
John affirms, (i John v: i:) ''Whosoever believeth that 
•Jesus is the Christ is born [begotten] of God; and every 
one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is be- 
gotten of him.'' How sweetly does the language of these 
texts fall in with the idea that the Messiahship of Jesus 
is the Gospel in epitome, and that this was the instrumen- 
tality used by the first preachers to bring men into the 
family of God ! 

The resurrection of Christ is the crowning proof of his 
Messiahship, and therefore Peter well says, (i Pet. 1:3:) 
" Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us 
again to a hope of life by the resurrection of Jesus Christ 
from the dead." If, then. Regeneration be not what I have 
proved it to be by this simple, and, as I think, unanswer- 
able argument, I shall despair of ever understanding the 
meaning of language, and shall boldly affirm that to make 
a revelation of the will of God in the symbols of human 
speech is plainly impossible. 

4. '^he end proposed in our Regeneration is ^^ that we should 
he a kind of first fruits of his creatures y I n D eu t. xxvi : 2—10, 
we have the law regulating the affe(5ling ceremony of pre- 
senting the first fruits before God ; and from it we gather 
that God required the first fruits of the land as an acknowl- 
edgment by the Israelite of the providential care that had 
watched over Abraham and his posterity from the begin- 
ning; that had now given the people an abundant harvest, 
and for his goodness deserved this tribute at their hands. 



ROBERT GRAHAM. 219 



The first fruits were holy and dedicated to God; they were 
the choicest produdions of the earth, and they were an 
earnest of the harvest about to be reaped. When a man 
is regenerated according to the Scriptures, he is wholly 
devoted to God. All his faculties and powers, his time, 
talents, and opportunities, his whole being and life are con- 
secrated to him whose he is and whom he serves. He is a 
new creature in Christ Jesus, and his reasonable service is 
to present his body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto 
God. The principle of Regeneration is one that prompts 
to entire devotion to God. Changed in state, in life, and 
in purpose, his afredions purified, and his soul freed from 
the thralldom of sin, the renewed man seeks conformity to 
his Divine model, and is thus prepared for his master's use. 
He is, indeed, '^ a kind of first fruits of his creatures." 

n. The Necessity of Regeneration. 

And first, my brethren, let me say, that in calling the 
process by which we are introduced into the kingdom and 
pai-ience of Jesus a birth, the Savior has brought before 
our minds one of the most appropriate and expressive 
comparisons imaginable. Let us be here distinctly un- 
derstood: The change in both state and charafter of which 
we are the subjeds in Regeneration, is as real as the creation 
of the world by God, or its redemption by Jesus; but the 
setting forth of that change under the similitude of a birth, 
is highly figurative, and is at once pertinent and instruc- 
tive. Christ is one of the most figurative of teachers ; his 
instructions abound in parables, metaphors, and beautiful 
analogies: hence the clearness and the charm in what he 
says. The deep supernatural truths of his kingdom are 
submitted to our minds and hearts in analogies drawn from 
the frame of nature; both these constitute but one system 



220 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



of God, and of that system Christ as the Divine Logos 
is the author and the finisher. 

The New Institution may be contemplated in various 
points of "view; it is many-sided^ and hence the numerous 
parables employed by Christ to unfold its nature and ex- 
cellence. It was foretold by the prophets, under the figure 
of a kingdom; and therefore, when John came announcing 
the good news of a "kingdom of God at hand," the Jews 
were at no loss to understand his meaning, though they were 
entirely ignorant of its spiritual nature. They supposed it 
was merely the old kingdom of God established by Moses, 
now to be made more glorious by the Messiah. It was no 
longer to be under the heel of the proud Caesars; it was to 
triumph over Gentile oppression, and the chosen seed of 
Abraham were to possess it, because of their fleshly rela- 
tion to him. Descent from him, according to the flesh, 
was the ground of their confidence, their boast, and their 
glory. 

John, therefore, laid great stress on the necessity of 
new principles, a new character, and a new life, as a prep- 
aration for the kingdom which he preached ; and the sev- 
enty disciples were sent out to aid in the good work of 
preparing men in heart, profession, and condud, for the 
kingdom of heaven shortly to be set up. To call the 
minds of these carnal Jews from their earthly views of 
the Messiah's reign, the Harbinger direded their attention 
to the fad that while he immersed them in water, Christ 
would immerse them in the Holy Spirit. 

One of the Jews, a master in Israel, came to Christ 
himself, and acknowledged him to be an inspired teacher 
come from God, as proved by the miracles he wrought. 
True to the grand design of his kingdom, and in admir- 
able harmony with its nature, the Savior affirms to him 



ROBERT GRAHAM. 221 



the absolute impossibility of any man's enjoying it with- 
out being first born again. We are thus shut up by the 
great Teacher himself, to the conclusion that the birth of 
which he speaks has resped: to a spiritual kingdom, just 
as we know that the word, in its literal sense, has respedl 
to a literal kingdom. How natural, how apposite, how 
forcible is all this ! 

In the New Testament, there are many allusions made 
to three distind kingdoms of God; and into every one 
of these we enter by a birth. There is a beautiful analogy 
among these, and many passag-es of Scripture can be under- 
stood only as we keep this analogy clearly before the mind. 
We enter the kingdom of nature by literal birth. Adam 
was made; we are born. This is according to the will of 
man. We are born again, according to the will of God, 
and we thus enter the kingdom of grace ; we shall be 
quickened by the Spirit and born of the grave before we 
enter the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior 
Jesus Christ. 

We enjoy a life, in each of these kingdoms of nature, 
of grace, and of glory, suited to its character respedively. 
In the first, it is natural; in the second, spiritual; and in 
the third, it is eternal. We derive all from God; but the 
first is through our parents, the second through the Gos- 
pel, and the third through his power in our resurreftion. 
Birth is for the sake of life, and this last is the efflores- 
cence of the germ and bud of our being, the flower that 
shall know no blight in the paradise of God. 

The Spirit of God is the prime agent in all life. Till 
it brooded in the beginning on the abyss, there was no life; 
it became an embodiment in the word of the Almighty, 
and light and life flashed from the darkness and death of 
chaos, a cosmos of light and life came into being. The 



222 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



word was spoken, and through it the spirit of life, the 
spirit of power, the Spirit of God, generated and brought 
forth all animate things, and man himself, the crown and 
lord of all. Animal life is here the result of God's Spirit 
operating through his word. " His word is spirit and 
life." At this, ''the morning stars sang together, and all 
the sons of God shouted for joy." 

If we look at spiritual life, how perfed the analogy ! 
The Spirit of God is the author of our new life; but that 
Spirit is again in his word; its re-creating energy is there, 
and we are regenerated through the word of truth in the 
Gospel, "for it is the power of God unto salvation to 
every one that believeth." The word of God was the 
envelope of his omnipotence in the creation of all things. 
It is not less so now in quickening us to a new spiritual 
life in Christ Jesus. 

The Spirit that raised up Christ shall again become em- 
bodied in a word of God; his voice shall be heard in the 
charnel house, and those mortal bodies shall throw off the 
cerements of the grave, and come forth to die no more. 
We shall enter into what Peter calls "the everlasting king- 
dom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." It is rightly 
so called, for it is the grand consummation of all God's 
purposes of grace and mercy toward his believing and 
obedient children. 

But, we have said, all birth is for the sake of life. Is it 
not thus ? We are born into the world, not that we may 
simply exist, but that we may live. We eat and drink to 
sustain life; but that life is in the flesh, and is sustained 
by the bread and water that perish. We may eat and live 
thus, grow old and die, and yet be strangers to that bread 
that came down from heaven to give life to the world. It 
is in admirable harmony with our analogy of a new birth 



ROBERT GRAHAM. 223 



and a new life that Christ says "we must eat of the 
bread that he gives us ;" and that "man shall not live by- 
bread alone, but by every word of God.'* If we do this, 
"we shall hunger no more, neither die any more." If 
we drink of the water he gives, "it shall be in us a well 
of water springing up to everlasting life." The morning 
of the resurredtion shall witness our third and final birth; 
we shall then enter on an eternal life, to be forever nour- 
ished by the tree of life and the river that issues from the 
throne of God. 

We are now prepared to .affirm, and to affirm confi- 
dently, that the declaration of Christ is in every way con- 
sonant with all our conceptions of a kingdom and of life. 
Who can conceive of the former without subjedls .? of the 
latter without birth ? And why the former, but for the 
sake and for the development of the latter? We can not 
live, in its proper sense, without being born; and, as soon 
as we are born, we enter a kingdom. " Except ye be born 
again ye can not enter into the kingdom of God." 

This passage, then, teaches one great truth about the 
new birth, and that is, its absolute necessity. We can not 
give too much emphasis to this declaration of the Master. 
In the nature of things, there is no entering into the king- 
dom of God; there is no enjoying this new life but by 
being born again. The sense of the passage is one, and 
not manifold; there is one, and but one complete judg- 
ment of Christ's mind in the language under considera- 
tion ; that judgment is one and the same to all who know 
the meaning of words; we do not ask you to admit it, we 
challenge the world to deny it — that single idea is, that 
Regeneration is absolutely necessary to the enjoyment of 
the kingdom of God. 

If this truth were appreciated as it ought to be, and if 



224 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



we were prepared to accept its inevitable consequences, 
much misconception and wrangling about religion would 
disappear. Prejudices, such as were a hindrance to the 
Jew, and are yet so to many a Gentile, would give way. 
No longer would infant baptism, infant regeneration, in- 
fant church-membership, and, I blush to name it, infant 
damnation, hold a place in Protestant symbols of faith. 
These, with a score of exploded dogmas in relation to con- 
version, abstra6l spiritual operations, and what is improp- 
erly called experimental religion, would be known only as 
the lifeless creed of the dogmatist or the wild fancies of 
the enthusiast. 

We do not mean to say that professed Christians do, 
in words, deny the necessity of the new birth; we are more 
than pleased to know that there is a general agreement as 
to such necessity, but we fear it is more a concession for 
the sake of orthodoxy, than a conscious truth of the heart. 
If this be not true, they would hardly repudiate its obvious 
consequences. 

From the nature of the case, then, and from the posi- 
tive teaching of Christ in this passage, we conclude a new 
birth to be a necessity in every case to which the language 
applies. What the Divine Father of all does with those 
who are incapable of hearing, believing, and obeying the 
Gospel, is not a question before us, nor is its discussion 
necessarily conneded with our present purpose. 

We may now sum up what we have to say on both the 
nature and the necessity of Regeneration in a brief scrip- 
tural statement: It is the Spirit, the Spirit of God, that is 
the efficient agent in this wonderful transformation ; the 
means employed is the word of God contained in the 
Gospel, more particularly the truth that '* Jesus is the 
Christ;" which is, in fad, the whole Gospel in epitome. 



ROBERT GRAHAM. 0.2^ 



Through this we are begotten to a hope of life by the 
resurredion of Jesus Christ, (i Pet. 1:3.) The Father 
begets us through his Word, inspired into the apostles by 
the Holy Spirit, and spoken by them in their testimony 
that Jesus is the Christ; this Word, received into the 
heart of the sinner, dead in trespasses and sins, is the seed 
of the kingdom, which germinates there, and of it he is 
begotten, and of it only. When such a one comes forth of 
the water in which he has been baptized into the name of 
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, according to the 
Savior's command, the process of his Regeneration is com- 
pleted. He is saved by the washing of Regeneration, and 
the renewing of the Holy Spirit. (Titus iii: 5.) 

From what has been said it follows, as a matter of 
course, that mystical and abstrad regeneration without the 
word of God, the means and motives of the Gospel, an- 
terior to faith, and in order to faith, is opposed alike to 
the simplicity of the Divine teaching and the analogy of 
nature. It is opposed to the simplicity of the Divine 
teaching, for it leads to confused ideas of the whole plan 
of redemption; it contradids the plainest teachings of 
Christ and the apostles; it nullifies the commands of the 
Savior, and leads the sinner to depend on an influence of 
the Spirit not promised, and never to be realized. It makes 
him the dupe of feelings inconstant and deceptive, and 
the hero of what would be a farce but for its seriousness ' 
and the interests involved. It is opposed to the analogy 
of nature, for it leads us to suppose that God has two 
processes of birth into the same kingdom; one ordinary, 
the other extraordinary; one normal, the other abnormal; 
one through means, the other without means. Is this 
true of his natural kingdom? Has God many ways, or 
one way, of producing animal, vegetable, or any kind of 
15 



226 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



life ? Is not his glorious power in the production of 
myriads of beings in all departments of his physical world 
manifest in this, that what is necessary for the producing 
of one is so for all ? and that nothing more than he has 
appointed is necessary? 

III. The blessed consequences of Regeneration. 

The Pythagoreans, who believed in the metempsychosis 
or transmigration of souls, called the union of the soul 
with a new body a regeneration. The Greeks called the 
Spring, when the dormant energies of earth and air are 
waked to new life and adivity, the regeneration of the 
year. Christ, in one of the only two passages where the 
word is found in the Scriptures, calls the renovation he 
came to effed a regeneration. ^'Verily I say unto you, 
that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when 
the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye 
also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve 
tribes of Israel." (Matt, xix: 28.) 

Christ does two things for those who receive him in the 
Gospel, which, though co-etaneous and inseparable, are, 
nevertheless, very distin6t. When we believe in Christ, 
and obey the Gospel, we are freely justified for his sake. 
According to the terms of the New Covenant, our sins 
and iniquities are remembered no more. " He that be- 
lieveth and is baptized shall be saved," are the words of 
the promise, and the promise, too, of him whose truth 
never fails. This salvation is not only from former con- 
demnation; it not only obliterates the past, and places us 
before God justified ; but it embraces the implanting in 
our hearts a new principle of life. We are, henceforth, a 
new creation in Christ Jesus : '' Old things are passed 
away, and all things are become new." There is some- 



ROBERT GRAHAM. 227 



thing done/^r us, and something done in us, by our Re- 
deemer. This latter is the essential idea in Regeneration. 
It is a new life ; but life has resped to a kingdom, and, 
therefore, we have a regenerated charadler and a regener- 
ated state. Baptism is the consummation of the Divine 
process, and marks the point of transition from a state 
of alienation to one of reconciliation, pardon, and peace. 
He, then, who, according to the Gospel, puts on Christ, 
becomes in him a new creature; he is regenerated and born 
again. This is the spiritual metempsychosis. The new life 
in Christ is his, and, freed from the condemnation of sin, 
with the love of it eradicated from his heart, he begins a 
new existence ; the spring of his new life has come ; the old 
man of sin is destroyed, and the new man, created in the 
image of God, in righteousness and true holiness, lives in 
him. God has said to him: '' Behold, I make all things 
new." The renovation is effeded, and Christ is seated 
on the throne of his glory. 

2d. ^'Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin." 
(i John iii: 9.) Whereas, before his new birth, sin had 
power over him, he now has power over sin. ''He sin- 
neth not, because his seed abideth in him." What a blessed 
result is this! The child of God not only has a new life, 
a new nature given him — he not only lives in a new state, 
but, when tempted by the world, the flesh, and the Devil, 
he has the power to resist; he is strong in the Lord, and 
in the power of his might. He not only has life, but he 
has it more abundantly. Would we all realized ''the full- 
ness of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ" brought to 
us in our regeneration ! 

3d. We are adopted into the family of God. We are 
begotten of him, and, therefore, are his children. The 
spirit of adoption is sent into our hearts. Thus speaks the 



228 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Apostle Paul, (Gal. iv: 6:) ''And because ye are sons, 
God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, 
crying, Abba, Father." There is not a blessing of the 
New Covenant that is not included in this. The new- 
born soul feels its relationship to God, angels, and the 
redeemed in this world and around the throne of God. 
There is not a promise it may not claim ; there is not a 
privilege it may not enjoy; there is not an honor in 
heaven or earth to which it may not aspire. 

4th. We become heirs of God by our new birth. The 
wealth of the universe is ours ; the riches of Christ are 
our patrimony. We may be as our Master was while on 
earth, poor and needy; but as our Master is, we also be- 
come heirs of the world. Thrones, and dominions, and 
powers are to be subjed to us; for, as Christ overcame, 
and is seated on his Father's throne, so are we to over- 
come, and to be seated on Christ's throne. In a word, 
when we become children of God, we come into a new 
world; the powers and capacities of the soul are free from 
the thraldom of sin, and a new spirit is given us, and we 
are made heirs of God and joint-heirs with our Lord Jesus 
Christ. ''All things are yours: whether Paul, or Apol- 
los, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things 
present, or things to come; all are yours, and ye are 
Christ's, and Christ is God's. 

Such, my brethren, is the teaching of Scripture on this 
interesting theme ; and may God bless it to our minds 
and hearts that we may all come to the knowledge of the 
truth as it is in Jesus. 



MOSES E. LARD. 



TF it be true that "just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined," then, if 
-*■ the author of a "Review of Carapbellism Examined" did not grow up 
into a crooked tree, he certainly deserves great credit for overcoming his 
inclinations. But his life is a fine illustration of the wonderful workings 
of Providence, as **from seeming evil he is still educing good." 

MosEs E. Lard was born in Bedford County, Tennessee, October 29th, 
1 81 8. His parents were Scotch, and migrated to Missouri when the 
son was about fourteen years of age. His father was a man of " quick, 
strong sense ; tall and straight as an Indian, with a flashing eye and black 
hair ; of manly bearing, candid, frank, and generous to a fault ; loved his 
friend with an intense love, and hated his enemy with an intense hate; a 
man of great courage, quick temper, but cool and self-possessed." He was 
always very poor, and though respefting religion in others, never became 
religious himself. The mother was a deeply pious woman, a strift mem- 
ber of the Baptist Church, and thoroughly devoted to the moral training 
of her children. Soon after settling in Missouri, the father died of small- 
pox, leaving the widow and six children without any means of support. 
It was not long before the family was compelled to separate. The part- 
ing scene with his mother is thus described by the subjefl of this sketch : 
**As my brother and myself stood beneath the little cabin eaves, just ready 
to take leave of the only objefts on earth dear to us, and thus close the 
saddest scene of our lives, my mother said : ' My dear boys, I have nothing 
to give you but my blessing and these two little books.' Her soul was 
breaking, and she could say no more. She then drew from her bosom two 
small Testaments; and as her tears were streaming, and lips quivering, she 
screamed as if it were her last, and placed them in our hands. We all said 
good-by, and that family was forever broken on earth. Yet, gentle reader, 
think us not poor as we turned from that mean abode. We bore with us 
a Christian mother's blessing, and the precious words of Jesus. We were 
wealthy boys. To that little book and the memory of that scene my future 

(229) 



230 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



life owes its shaping. I never neglefted the one, thank Heaven, nor for- 
got the other." 

At seventeen years of age he was not able to write his own name ; but 
finally learned to write by tearing down the advertisements stuck up around 
the village, and using them for copy. From about this time till he was 
twenty-three, he lived a hard life, and time dragged heavily on. He was 
deeply religious in feeling, though not so in life; for he did not know how 
to be so. He heard the various religious parties preach, but could not 
understand them. Finally, he was driven to infidelity. But after strug- 
gling awhile with its unsatisfaftory conclusions, he heard one of the Dis- 
ciples preach the primitive Gospel. He was at once captivated by its sim- 
plicity and beauty; and before the meeting closed, he was a Christian. He 
was twenty-three years of age when he was immersed, and the next year he 
held his "first meeting," an interesting account of which is given in No. 2, 
vol. I of the " Quarterly." On the 4th of March, 1 845, he entered Bethany 
College. He had then a wife and two children. Under great pecuniary 
embarrassment he went through college, and graduated with distinguished 
honors, making the valediftory address. He then returned to Missouri, and 
entered aftively and successfully upon the work of preaching the Gospel — ■ 
most of his labors being in the evangelical field. In 1857, he published 
his "Review of Campbellism Examined," a work, which, when considered 
with reference to its design, simply leaves nothing more to be said. In 
1859 he made a successful preaching tour through Kentucky; and returning 
home, had, in i860, a debate of several days with a distinguished Methodist 
Presiding Elder, by the name of Caples. In 1863, he removed to Ken- 
tucky, and began the publication of the " Quarterly," an able periodical, 
which he still edits. He resides at present in Lexington, Kentucky. 

Brother Lard is about six feet three inches high, has a large, bony frame, 
dark hair, small piercing eyes, and a mouth that indicates decision and great 
firmness. He has a strong analytical mind, is a close and vigorous thinker, 
and stands in the front rank of the Disciples as a writer and speaker. 
Though an extemporaneous speaker, his style is much the same when speak-, 
ing as writing. Every sentence is uttered with a correftness and precision 
to which nothing but diligent, laborious preparation could attain. He is 
emphatically a student; not that he reads so many books, but that he com- 
pletely masters whatever he undertakes. His preaching is charafterized by 
more heart power than is generally supposed by those who have formed 
their judgments of him from his writings. His whole nature is in deep 
sympathy with all kinds of suffering; and when thoroughly aroused in the 
pulpit, he not unfrequently carries his audience before an irresistible tide 
of the most impassioned eloquence. 



CHRIST'S CONVERSATION WITH 
NICODEMUS. 



BY M. E. LARD. 



'* Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter 
into the kingdom of God." — John hi: 5. 

IT is difficult, if not impossible, in the judgment of 
most professors, to overestimate the importance of the 
new birth; and when we refled: on the position assigned 
it by the Savior, this judgment must be felt to be corred. 
Without it, no man can enter the kingdom of God. Into 
that kingdom he may desire to enter, may pray to enter, 
may even think he has entered; but into it he can never 
go, without being born again. This determines its value. 
Now, in whatever the new birth may consist, whatever 
processes may be necessary to complete it, no matter how 
many, nor what its component parts, of one thing I am sat- 
isfied: its solution must be sought mainly in a well-con- 
duded analysis of the conversation with Nicodemus. If, 
on examination, this conversation does not suggest its ex- 
planation, I shall despair of ever attaining one. Confir- 
mation from other portions of Holy Writ this explanation 
may receive; but a solution the new birth itself will not 
receive. The conversation with Nicodemus is the very 
soil in which the pearl lies buried. 

(231) 



232 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



At once, then, I come to consider the great dodlrinal 
statement, in that conversation, which involves the whole 
subjed:. It runs thus: ^^ Except a man be horn of water ^ 
and of the Spirit^ he can not enter into the kingdom of God^ 
This statement I regard as presenting us with a complete 
view of the new birth, as informing us in what it consists, 
as comprehending, in other words, the two grand fa5is 
which constitute it. In the declaration, ''Except a man 
be born again he can not see the kingdom of God," the 
Savior merely propounds the dodirine of the new birth 
generally, in a statement of the necessity of it; whereas, 
in the more elaborate statement, "Except a man be born 
of water and of the Spirit, he can not enter into the king- 
dom of God," he states definitively in what it consists, 
reiterating the necessity of it. The former statement pro- 
pounds the dodtrine, the latter statement explains it. 

Now, unless it should turn out that the Savior has made 
provision equally for the salvation of those within and 
those without the kingdom of God, then the necessity of 
the new birth becomes absolute and overwhelming. If 
the blessing of remission of sins be limited to those within 
the kingdom, then neither flight of fancy nor fertility of 
imagination can exaggerate the importance of being born 
again. Should it so happen, moreover, that the Savior 
has, in the declaration now in hand, afforded us the means 
of knowing what it is to be born again; if he has put it 
beyond our power to plead unavoidable ignorance in re- 
gard to it, pity, Lord, pity the willful blindness of count- 
less thousands who now call themselves the children of 
God! 

The great statement of which I am now treating natu- 
rally distributes itself into two clauses, each clause com- 
prehending an integral part of the new birth, and the two 



M. E. LARD. 223 



parts exhausting it. These clauses are respedively : I?orn 
of water, horn of the Spirit. I shall now attempt to unfold 
their meaning at length, and in the order in which they 
occur. 

The first question to be settled, and a most important 
one, is: In what sense are we to construe the expression, 
horn of water? in a literal or in a figurative sense? This 
question will, perhaps, be best answered by resolving the 
expression into the two simple members which compose 
it, and by examining each of them separately. These 
members are horn of and waier. To some this division 
may seem unnecessarily minute. I do not think it so. 
By thus breaking down the clause into these two simple 
verbal members, its subjects come singly into view, by 
which means each can be subjected to a more severe, be- 
cause a more distind:, examination. 

Upon the import of the expression "born of," which 
all allow to be metaphorical, there exists, I believe, no di- 
versity of opinion, provided only we can settle definitely 
the import of the term water. Are we, then, to construe 
this term in its ordinary and literal acceptation, or in a 
figurative sense.? In the latter sense, respond many. Let 
us now examine the hypothesis implied in this response, 
which, being concisely expressed in the form of a propo- 
sition, is this: The term water is figurative. 

But this proposition is only asserted; it is not proved. 
Before, therefore, it can justly challenge our assent, it 
must be supported by relevant and satisfactory testi- 
mony. This testimony we have a right to demand, yet 
it has never been adduced, though the proposition has 
often been re-asserted. In proving the proposition, we 
should expedl to see a course pursued something like the 
following: We should exped an accurate analysis of the 



234 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



new birth, in which its constituent parts would all be 
clearly pointed out; we should exped: an orderly enumer- 
ation of these parts, each being complete without water ; we 
should expe6l at least a few apt remarks on the grounds 
and propriety of using the term water in a figurative sense; 
we should expedl to be shown, with remarkable clearness, 
what thing the term, in its figurative sense, is intended to 
denote — precisely what it expresses ; we should exped: to 
be then shown that this thing, thus expressed, adually con- 
stituted one of the previously enumerated parts of the new 
birth; and, finally, we should exped the whole argument 
to be strongly summed up, and the results shown to cor- 
respond minutely with the great elementary dodtrines of 
salvation as set forth by Christ and his apostles. But 
have these reasonable expedlations been gratified? They 
have not. 

Here, then, I might, on grounds stridly just, rest for 
the present the discussion of this proposition. I shall, 
however, proceed to test its accuracy still further, though, 
in logical fairness, under no obligation to do so. 

'T^he term water is figurative. This is a tough saying. 
Innumerable have been the efforts which have been made 
to sustain it; yet not the semblance of success has ever 
crowned one of them. On all lies the stain of iniquity. 
What, I am curious to know, has ever put it into any 
head of man to say of the term, it is figurative? The an- 
swer is not difficult. The literal meaning of the term 
stands against those who have so said; stands against their 
tenets, and shuts them out of the kingdom of God. Hence 
to accommodate them it must be figurative. This, and no 
other, is the answer. 

But is the term figurative? Then is it so for sufficient 
reasons, which being assigned, would account for the fac5t; 



M. E. LARD. 235 



and these reasons are discoverable. For if no such reasons 
exist, then is the term figurative without a reason, which, 
in the case of a term used by the Savior, is inadmissible; 
and unless discoverable, though the reasons may exist, the 
effed: is the same with us as though they had no existence. 
It is presumed, then, that these reasons, unless purely 
imaginary, will be found in some one or more of the fol- 
lowing items; 

1 . T^he nature of the case^ of the new birth ; 

2. The laws regulating the use of figurative language ; or, 
3 ''the sense resulting from a figurative construction. 
First, then, as to the nature of the case. This I con- 
ceive to be the ground on which chiefly, if not alone, the 
figurative construction of the term water is to be defended. 
For if the nature of the case be such that this term can 
not be, in a literal acceptation, predicated of it, even in 
part, then is the figurative construction the alternative we 
must accept. Are we, then, obliged, by a necessity inher- 
ent in the nature of the case, to construe the term water 
figuratively? If not, then must we construe it ordinarily 
and literally. Now, if any such inherent necessity exist, 
it must be owing to the fad: that the new birth is, in all 
its parts and circumstances, complete without water; for, 
if not thus complete, then we need the term water to ex- 
press the fad:. But before we can infer any thing from 
the nature of the case, we must, of course, know what the 
case itself is. Here, now, we encounter a serious diffi- 
culty. For, until the import of the term water is settled, 
the meaning of the new birth remains doubtful. This is 
one of the terms employed by the Savior to describe the 
new birth. Until, therefore, we settle its meaning, we 
remain ignorant to this extent of what the new birth is. 
Hence from the nature of this thing we can infer nothing. 



236 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



But should it be alleged that we can know, independ- 
ently of the import of the term water, in what the new 
birth consists, and therefore in what acceptation the term 
is to be taken, I ask how? There are but two possible 
ways. Either we must be able to know it in and of our- 
selves, and independently of the Word of God, or from 
passages of Scripture which contain no allusion to water. 
No one who is not willing to be the dupe of his own fancy, 
will assert that he can know any thing of the matter in the 
first-named way. Neither can he know any thing of it in 
the second, for the only passage in the New Testament, 
which describes the new birth fully, contains the term 
water. Hence, till we know what this term means, we 
shall never know what the new birth is. 

Second: As to the laws regulating the use of figurative 
language. Most words, as is well known to the reader, 
are capable of being used in two acceptations: a literal or 
ordinary, and figurative; some even in three: literal, or- 
dinary, and figurative. In many instances it happens that 
the ordinary import and the literal are the same, as is the 
case with the term water; in some, again, the ordinary and 
the figurative agree, while the literal often differs from both. 
Hence, in construing a passage, the first thing in order is 
to ascertain, by the aid of some safe rule, the acceptation 
in which its terms are to be taken. This rule is, with one 
consent, allowed to be mainly the sense intended by the 
writer. But this, though the chief, is not the only means 
frequently at hand for determining this point. The man- 
. ner in which a term is introduced often enables us to de- 
cide it. When a term is attended by the words like, so, 
as, with many others, which serve to introduce compari- 
sons and other figures, we at once pronounce the term, so 
attended, figurative. But where this is not the case, and 



M. E. LARD. 237 



where the sense does not imperatively demand it, it is both 
arbitrary and dangerous to construe a term figuratively. 

Now, is the term water, in the clause in hand, attended 
by any verbal sign indicative of a figurative use ? Cer- 
tainly not. Here, then, the inference is conclusive against 
a figurative construction. But does not the sense of the 
passage require it to be so construed ^ True, it is so 
asserted; but this is precisely the thing which I deny, and 
which I do not intend shall be taken for granted. But 
the assertion can not be true ; for, on the contrary, it is 
only when the term is construed literally that the clause 
makes any sense at all. Construe it figuratively, and you 
forever hide every vestige of meaning in the clause. In- 
deed, the real question here at issue is not whether the 
term is or is not figurative, but whether it has a literal, 
or absolutely no meaning. The question is not what 
meaning are men willing to receive, but what is the mean- 
ing they must receive, or rejedt all meaning. Too many, 
T well know, are not willing to receive the literal meaning; 
and this is their sole reason for preferring a figurative one. 
But this is not to make the will of God, but the prefer- 
ence of man, our rule of adlion. 

But let us concede for a moment that the term water is 
figurative. To what class, then, of figurative words does 
it belong? Indisputably it is a metaphor; for to this 
class belong all those words which are used figuratively 
with no verbal sign to denote the fad:. Now, a word is 
used metaphorically when it is taken from denoting what 
it ordinarily means to become, for the present, the name 
of something which it does not ordinarily mean. Still, 
in all cases, it becomes the name of some real thing, never 
of nothing. A word, moreover, is used metaphorically be- 
cause the thing which it usually denotes resembles, in more 



238 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



or less respedls, the thing which it is used metaphorically 
to denote, and because it is wished to suggest that resem- 
blance. Of metaphors there are two classes, determined 
by the manner in which we discover the meaning of the 
metaphoric word. To the first class belong all those 
words which, on being simply heard in their connexion, 
instantly, without any extrinsic aid, suggest to the mind 
their meaning. To the second, all those words which, on 
being simply heard, do not instantly suggest their mean- 
ing, so deeply is it hid, but have it brought out by some 
added explanation. 

The following may serve as instances of the two classes: 

1. The Savior said of Herod: '' Go and tell that fox, 
behold I cast out demons, and I do cures to-day and to- 
morrow, and the third day I shall be perfeded." Here 
we as instantly colled his meaning as if he had said, Go 
and tell that cunning king. 

2. ^^ He that believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 
out of him shall flow rivers of living water.'* Here the 
mind is held in complete suspense, unable to penetrate 
the mystery in which the term water involves the sentence, 
until it is added : ^' But this spoke he of the Spirit which 
they that believe on him should receive.** 

Now, to which of these two classes — and there are no 
others — does the term water, now in question, belong ? 
Not to the latter; for no explanatory clause is added. 
Neither to the former; for, on being pronounced, it sug- 
gests, on the figurative hypothesis, just no meaning at all. 
Hence, again from these premises nothing can be inferred 
in support of the preceding proposition, but, rather, it is 
felt to be false. 

Third : The sense resulting from a figurative construc- 
tion. This brings me to notice the most objedionable 



M. E. LARD. 239 



feature in this whole theory; for, not only has the term 
water been treated as figurative, without a single reason, 
but, where it has been assigned any meaning at all, it has 
been a most fanciful one. Surely, my hearers need not 
be informed that figurative language has meaning no less 
than literal ; nor that an idea is wholly unafFeded by the 
kind of language in which it is conveyed. A thought re- 
mains the same whether communicated in literal or in figur- 
ative language. But, clearly, he who asserts a word to be 
figurative, must know what it means ; otherwise, if con- 
scientious, he would not venture the assertion. Hence, 
clearly, must they who assert that the term water is figur- 
ative, know what it means. But have they pointed that 
meaning out ? Never ; this they dare not attempt. 

True, we are told that water is an emblem — an emblem, 
too, of purification. But the term water, now in hand, is 
held to be figurative ; hence, of course, there is here no 
water. 1 1 is excluded by the very nature of the case ; there- 
fore, since there is here no water, there is here no emblem; 
and since no emblem, nothing emblemized, and hence no 
purification. Thus this groundless conceit vanishes. 

But is the term water figurative ? Granted, for a mo- 
ment. Still, it has meaning. Let, now, this meaning be 
determined — definitely determined. Next, let the term 
water be displaced from the clause in hand, but its mean- 
ing retained in some fit word. Then let us read : '' Ex- 
cept a man be born of \jbe thing which the term water 
denotes^ no matter what it is\ and the Spirit, he can not 
enter into the kingdom of God." From this there is ab- 
solutely no escape. Settle what the term water stands for. 
Then, of that thing unless a man be born, against him the 
kingdom of God is forever shut. True, we thus get rid 
of the water ; but whether we thereby ease the way into 



240 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the kingdom of God, may well be doubted. Still, two 
things are left, of both of which we must be born. This 
increases difficulties, not diminishes them ; hence, better 
retain the water. Then only are we true to reason, true 
to Christ. 

Since, then, it is only asserted, not proved, that the 
term water is figurative ; since there is no inherent neces- 
sity in the nature of the case for this constru6lion; since the 
laws of figurative language do not demand it; and since, 
from such construdion, either no sense at all results, or one 
which does not better the case — since all these things are 
true, I hence conclude that the term water is construed 
corredly only when taken in its literal and ordinary ac- 
ceptation. Hence, when the Savior says, " Except a man 
be born of water,'' he means simply and literally water. 

What, now, is it to be born of water ? On this ques- 
tion I need not dwell long. To be born of, as already 
conceded, is figurative. Literally, it denotes the event 
which brings us into natural life ; figuratively, then, it 
must denote an event like it. The two events must re- 
semble each other as type resembles impression, or, if not 
so exa6lly, still closely. First, then, we have water given ; 
second, in this a man is buried; third, out of it he emerges. 
Is not this being born of water ? If the reason or the eye 
may be appealed to in any case to settle either the mean- 
ing of a word, or determine the analogy of fads, the ques- 
tion is answered. This is being born of water. But this 
is precisely what takes place in immersion ; hence, I con- 
clude that, to be born of water and be immersed are merely 
two different names — that figurative, this literal — for one 
and the same a6l. 

A corroborative item or two, and I am done with the 
first part of my subjed. Water is never present in any 



M. E. LARD. 241 



a6l connefted with the kingdom of Christ, except one. 
But in that a6l it is always present, and never absent. 
That a(5l is immersion. But in the expression, ''born of 
water," water is present ; hence, it must be in immersion, 
since it can be in nothing else. Again, it seems that to 
be born of water and be immersed are identical. 

Christ is called the first-born from the dead. This is 
the statement of a fad, and in it occurs the word born. 
The fad is Christ's rising from the dead ; hence, to arise 
out of the grave is to be born from the dead. But a man 
is dead to sin, is buried in the water, and rises out of it. 
If, now that rising can be called being born from the dead, 
then is this rising being born of water. If, in argument, 
analogy be worth any thing, it is decisive here. 

If the expression, ''born of water," does not signify 
immersion, its meaning is not determinate. Then, no 
living man can say whether he is in, or not in, the king- 
dom of God. But Christ has not left us in doubt on so 
vital a point; hence, the expression must be determinate, 
and signifies immersion. 

I here terminate my examination of the clause "born 
of water." The result is submitted to the candid and 
thoughtful hearer only, but to him with no fear as to the 
end. 

I now proceed to inquire into the meaning of the sec- 
ond division of my subjed, namely, "Born of the Spirit." 
Important as has been the discussion of the preceding di- 
vision, the discussion of this will be generally felt to be 
still more so, and I by no means wish to diminish the just 
interest which may be felt in it. 

I shall set out with the assumption, new, perhaps, to 
many, that the Savior, after stating in what the new birth 
consists, then proceeds to explain so much of it as is em- 
16 



242 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



braced in the clause "born of the Spirit." One thing, at 
least, will be conceded, that what is here embraced was least 
likely to be understood, and, therefore, stood most in need 
of explanation. Upon the import of the clause "born 
of water" the great Teacher said nothing. Of this Nico- 
demus needed no explanation. As soon as he learned from 
the Savior that he spoke not of a literal re-birth, instantly 
the meaning of the clause would flash into his mind. lie 
would intuitively take the term water literally; this done, 
and the meaning of "born of" would be at once perceived. 
But not so with the phrase "born of the Spirit." Of ne- 
cessity all would be dark here. Of being born of the Spirit, 
or of being begotten by it, he had no means of informa- 
tion. To him the subjed was absolutely new. Not one 
incident of universal history could shed a ray of light on 
it. In his case, therefore, an explanation was especially 
necessary. Hence the assumption that we have one. 

With what is here last said, corresponds, as I deem, 
the next verse; namely, "That which is born of the flesh 
is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." 
Hardly can this verse be held to be free from difficulty; 
not that its difficulty is insuperable, but only that it is 
not free from it. In the expression, "that which is born 
of the flesh is flesh," we have the statement of a simple 
well-known matter of fad. In 'this statement every word 
is to be taken literally; nor can any one acquainted with 
the facft stated misunderstand the terms in which it is ex- 
pressed. Flesh produces flesh literally, or the one is the 
offspring of the other. This we know to be so. But the 
difficulty lies not here. It is in the expression " that which 
is born of the Spirit is spirit; " or more stridly, perhaps, 
in the parallelism which we draw between the two expres- 
sions. In the expression last cited the word born is not 



M. E. LARD. 243 



to be taken literally; for in regeneration no personal spirit 
is produced; that is, the Holy Spirit does not produce the 
human spirit in the sense in which flesh produces flesh. In 
regeneration the human spirit is only changed, not produced. 
Hence, in the second expression, the word born is not to 
be taken literally but figuratively, as denoting, in general 
terms, simply a change. Now the difficulty, as I conceive, 
lies here: In drawing the parallel we make Spirit stand to 
spirit as flesh stands to flesh, in each case the one produc- 
ing the other. Clearly this is wrong. Certainly flesh pro- 
duces flesh; but Spirit only changes spirit. Here there 
is no produdl, at least no produd of substantive spirit. 
Hence in the first expression the word born is to be taken 
literally, but in the second figuratively. This causes, un- 
less carefully noticed, confusion, and in this we feel the 
difficulty. But how, it may be asked, do I know this, or 
from what do I learn it? I answer, from the very nature 
of the case. In regeneration the human spirit already ex- 
ists; it is hence not produced. Consequently the differ- 
ence in the subjefts determines a diff*erence in the terms. 
But on the supposition that the Savior is now explain- 
ing so much of the new birth as relates to the spirit, this 
is precisely what we should exped him to say. The word 
born denotes a change. The Holy Spirit is the agent who 
effe6ls this change: the human spirit is the subje6l in which 
it takes place. That which is born of Spirit — the Holy 
Spirit, is spirit — the human spirit. The Holy Spirit be- 
gets the human; that is, effe6ls the change which takes 
place in it. The whole process embraces four items, in- 
dicated in the four following questions: i. Who effedls 
the change? 2. What is changed? 3. How is the change 
effe6led? 4. In what does it consist when affeded? These 
four questions exhaust the subjedl. Two of them have 



244 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



now been answered — the Holy Spirit efFedls the change, 
the human spirit is changed. Only two, therefore, remain 
to be answered. Of these the Savior, in the following 
verses, answers only the third; namely, how is the change 
efFeded? The fourth is not answered by him in the inter- 
view with Nicodemus, but is answered elsewhere in the 
New Testament, as will be shown in the course of this 
sermon. 

Here it is proper to determine another point before 
proceeding further. Should we read horn of the Spirit, 
or begotten by it? This depends altogether on the view 
we are taking of the matter in hand. If we are viewing 
regeneration as completed, completed in both its parts, 
completed in water, completed in spirit, then it is proper 
to say born of the Spirit; otherwise it obviously is not. 
Whenever the two parts of the process are viewed separ- 
ately, then, clearly, we should say begotten by the Spirit, 
not born. The Holy Spirit begets the human, or, more 
striftly, begets a change in it, prepares it for entrance 
into the kingdom of God. In this preparatjion, the Holy 
Spirit, as agent, merely ads on the human spirit, changing 
it. The human spirit is not conceived of as coming out 
of, or proceeding from, the Holy Spirit. Hence begot- 
ten, not born, is the proper word. Again : being begot- 
ten by the Spirit is the first part of the whole process of 
being born again. It consequently antecedes the other 
part, being born of water, and is hence more corredly ex- 
pressed by begotten than born. Further: as the word 
born applies to the last ad in natural generation, so like- 
wise it applies to the last ad in regeneration. This ad, 
in regeneration, is coming out of the water. Hence to it 
we should apply born, to the other, begotten. Accord- 
ingly the verse in hand would, perhaps, be more corredly 



M. E. LARD. 245 



rendered : I'hat which is begotten by the flesh is flesh, and 
that which is begotten by the Spirit is spirit. This much 
must be corred, more than this might not be; it is hence 
best to say this much, no more. Certainly, in the fifth 
verse, we should render the original by born, thus: ''Ex- 
cept a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he can not 
enter into the kingdom of God." Here begotten is wholly 
inadmissible, since we can not be begotten by water, but 
must be born of it. Again, it is not by being begotten sim- 
ply that we enter into the kingdom of God; it is by being 
born. In the fifth verse the' word denotes the ad: which 
translates us into the kingdom. It is hence the ad of being 
born, not of being begotten. In the subsequent verses, 
however, where the word occurs, it is best to render it be- 
gotten. I shall accordingly do so, as already in the sixth. 
It will be remembered that we are now speaking on the 
assumption that after the fifth verse, the Savior proceeds 
to explain how we are begotten by the Spirit. With this 
assumption agrees the seventh verse more naturally than 
with any other. The verse reads : '' Marvel not that I 
said to thee, ye must be born again." When I am speak- 
ing to a man, and it is obvious to my eye that he does 
not understand me; and I say to him: Wonder not that I 
should speak to you thus; for what, most naturally, does 
my remark prepare him? for an illustration or an explan- 
ation ? If I have already explained myself, clearly it pre- 
pares him for an illustration. But if not, then an explan- 
ation is expeded. Now, in the case in hand, the Savior 
had submitted no explanation. Most naturally, then, it 
seems would his remark induce the expedation of one. I 
hence still assume that the following verse contains one. 
The verse reads thus: ''^'The wind hloweth where it list- 
eth, and thou hear est the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence 



246 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



it Cometh, and whither it goeth ; so is every one that is born 
of the Spirit,'' 

No passage in the New Testament has been so variously 
and so inconsistently construed as this. Hardly any two 
men understand it alike. Hence it is cited to prove any 
thing or nothing, as may happen to suit the tenets of him 
who uses it. Generally, by the parties of the day, it is 
held as containing an illustration of the mystery of being 
begotten by the Spirit. This, I conceive to be the radi- 
cal misconception which has utterly obscured the sense of 
this fine passage. Without one solitary verbal mark, in 
the original, indicative of an illustration, or the slightest 
ground on which to conclude that o^ne was ever meant, has 
the verse been assumed to be illustrative, and rendered 
accordingly. A more unaccountable departure from some 
of the best established laws of exegesis than its rendering, 
in some respedls, exhibits, I have not met with. And 
long since, I doubt not, would the present rendering have 
been utterly discarded, had it not contributed to foster a 
deep-seated error on the subjed: now in hand. To any 
one who is bold enough to think for himself, it is clear 
that the verse, as it now reads, has simply no appreciable 
meaning whatever. I shall hence, with no sort of scruple, 
use whatever means may be at command to free it from 
darkness. 

First, then, in regard to the word which, in our common 
version, is rendered ''''wind.'" This word occurs in the 
Greek New Testament three hundred and eighty-six times. 
In three hundred and eighty-four of these it is rendered 
into English either by the term spirit or by its equivalent 
ghost. Once, in the book of Revelation, it is rendered 
'Mife," where, beyond doubt, it should have been ren- 
dered '* a spirit.'* But in not a single case, in the New Tes- 



M. E. LARD. 247 



tament, except the verse in hand, is it rendered ^'^ wlnd!^ 
Now, in translating, one great rule to be observed is this: 
To translate the same original word uniformly by the same 
equivalent English word, unless the sense forbids it. No 
translation is deemed good which violates this rule, none 
very faulty which does not. Now, since the word in hand, 
out of three hundred and eighty-six instances, is, in three 
hundred and eighty-four of them, uniformly rendered by 
the word spirit^ or by a word of the same meaning, the pre- 
sumption in favor of a similar rendering, in the two re- 
maining instances, is as three- hundred and eighty-four to 
two. And when it is remembered that the sense does not 
forbid this rendering, this presumption becomes an impe- 
rious necessity. For these reasons, therefore, I render the 
original by the word spirit, understanding thereby, the 
Holy Spirit, 

The leading word thus rendered, and the whole verse is' 
literally translated thus : The Spirit breathes where it sees 
fit, and you hear its voice, but know not whence it comes and 
where it goes ; in this way is every one who is begotten by the 
Spirit, 

On this passage, three questions arise, namely: What 
ad of the Spirit does the word breathe express ? Is it true 
that we of this day know not whence the Spirit comes, and 
where it goes? And is the sense of the last clause of the 
verse complete ? 

I. What ad of the Spirit does the word breathe express ? 
Be it what it may, one thing is clear, in the ad something 
is heard. This word, then, suggests a probable answer to 
the question. Only when the Spirit speaks, do we hear it. 
Speaking, then, is most likely the ad which the word 
breathe metaphorically expresses. With this, moreover, 
agrees the word voice. The original of this word is a gen- 



248 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



eric term, expressing sound generally; but, when applied 
to persons, it always denotes the voice heard in speaking. 
But, in the present case, it applies to the Holy Spirit, a 
person. Hence, it is legitimate to infer that it denotes 
the voice of the Spirit heard in speaking. But this voice 
is never heard, except through prophets and apostles. It 
is only when in man that the Spirit speaks to him; hence, 
the ad: is an ad: of speaking, and the voice heard, the voice 
of inspired men. Through these men the Spirit speaks, 
and, speaking thus, we hear its voice. 

2. Is it true of us in the present day that we know not 
whence the Spirit comes, and where it goes, or is the clause 
applicable to us? I reply: The clause is not applicable to 
us of this day, for the reason that, in no intelligible sense, 
can it be said of us that we know not the whence and the 
whither of the Spirit. Indisputably it comes from God, 
and is sent into the saints. But this, though true of us, 
was not true of Nicodemus. We have light on the point, 
which he had not. Of him, therefore, the clause was true, 
but not of us. As yet, the Savior had taught nothing 
respeding the Spirit; the apostles had taught nothing, and 
the New Testament was not written. That, therefore, 
was true of Nicodemus at the time, which is inapplicable 
to us, and which ceased to be true of him, if he lived, as 
soon as the Spirit was sent. Hence, in construing the 
verse, we must construe it as all applicable to him, but 
as applicable to us only with the clause in hand omitted. 
In one view only can the clause be deemed applicable to 
us of the present day. If the Spirit be conceived of as 
roaming up and down on the face of the earth, in some 
occult manner unmentioned in the Bible, and unintel- 
ligible to man, then may we construe the clause of our- 
selves. In any other view, it must be held as applying 



M. E. LARD. 249 



only to Nicodemus, and only when applied to him has it 
any determinate meaning. The view of the clause here 
maintained frees the verse from at least half the confusion 
which lies on it. It is presented as necessary, and as barely 
disputable, and certainly relieves a passage of Scripture 
of no small difficulty. 

3. Is the sense of the last clause of the verse complete, 
namely, in this way is every one who is begotten by the Spirit? 
That it is not, is intuitively felt by every reader. Invol- 
untarily, we ask, in what way? The question implies the 
incompleteness of the sense; -for, were the sense complete, 
no impulse would be felt to ask the question. Now, in 
order to render the sense full, and to leave no question 
remaining, we have to use, in translating, one word more 
than is in the original. Are we at liberty to do this ? 
Certainly it Is often done; but should it be done here? 
I believe it should ; and my reasons for so believing are 
concisely these: First, as already said, the sense is incom- 
plete without the word. There is, therefore, a necessity 
for It. Indeed, without it the verse is an eternal enigma. 
Second, to supply a word not only completes the sense, 
but gives a sense in strid accordance with what we know 
to be elsewhere taught. In a doubtful case, these two 
reasons for a particular conclusion, with none against it, 
may be generally accepted as decisive. I, hence, decide 
in favor of the word. Supplying it, and the clause reads 
thus : In this way is begotten every one who is begotten by the 
Spirit. 

It will be remembered that. In commencing the investi- 
gation of the second part of my subjeft, I assumed that 
an explanation of how we are begotten by the Spirit, was 
contained In the following verses. I am now ready to show 
that this assumption was well taken. In order to do this, 



250 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



I shall omit the clause herein held to be inapplicable to 
us, merely that I may present, in closer union, the really 
dependent clauses of the verse. Omitting, as here said, 
and the whole verse reads thus: l^he Spirit breathes where 
it sees fit^ and you hear its voice ; in this way is begotten 
every one who is begotten by tfoe Spirit. How, then, is a 
person begotten by the Spirit ? By hearing its voice. Of 
the truth of this, I feel profoundly convinced, whether 
the preceding premises necessitate it or not. 

In confirmation, however, of the conclusion, I cite the 
two following Scriptures. 

1. *'Of his [the Father's] own will begat he us with the 
word of truth.'' But the word of truth is what we hear 
from the Spirit. Now, by this., James affirms we are be- 
gotten. The preceding conclusion, therefore, is true. 
That to be begotten by the Father and by the Spirit is 
one and the same begetting, is here taken for granted. 

2. '' Being begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but 
of incorruptible, by the word of God.'' Here Peter de- 
clares, in so many words, that we are begotten by the word 
of God. This word is from the Spirit, and is what we 
hear. Hence, by hearing, we are begotten again. 

4. But when begotten, in what does the change consist? 
The following contains the answer: '''■Every one who be- 
lieves that Jesus is the Christy has been begotten of God.'^ 
(i John v: I.) 

From this passage, one of two conclusions indisputably 
results : Either to be begotten of God is to believe, or this 
includes that, since every believer is begotten. It is here 
held that to be begotten and to believe are identical. 
Hence, when a person is begotten, the change consists in 
believing that Jesus is the Christ. Here, then, I end the 
second part of my subjed:. 



M. E. LARD. 251 



Finally, from all the foregoing premises and reasonings, 
I conclude that to be "born of water" is simply to be 
immersed; and to be begotten by the Spirit, to believe in 
Jesus Christ. Few conclusions of men will ever rest on 
safer grounds, or be better entitled to confidence. 

And now to show, in conclusion, that when Christ says, 
'' He that believes and is immersed shall be saved," he 
only asserts, at the close of his earthly career, what he had, 
at its commencement, asserted to Nicodemus in different 
language, I submit the following: 

He that believes, and is -immersed, is saved, and is, 
therefore, in the kingdom of God. Hence, he that be- 
lieves, and is immersed, is born of water and of the Spirit, 
for, otherwise, he can not enter the kingdom of God. The 
only way to escape the force of this pithy argument is to 
deny that he who is saved is in the kingdom of God. If 
a man can not be saved, and be at the same time out of 
the kingdom, the argument is final. 




^7.^^ /.^^.j^^ 



7 >. 



1i W.CanO.' a tJV Piiius-i-. 



JOHN STEELE SWEENEY. 



'T^HE subje6l of this sketch was born near Liberty, Kentucky, September 
■*' 4, 1832. His father, G. E. Sweeney, was of Irish descent, and a 
Baptist in his younger days, but, "when he became a man, he put away 
childish things," and has since been an earnest advocate for the primi- 
tive order of things. His mother, whose maiden name was Campbell, 
was of Scotch-Irish extradlion, and was brought up under Methodist in- 
fluence, but, for more than thirty years, has been a member of the Chris- 
tian Church. 

His parents were poor, and lived in a country not very well supplied 
with good schools; consequently, his early education was greatly negledled. 
After he was fully grown, however, he acquired a respeftable education. 

Having begun the study of the law, he left Kentucky, in 1854, ^^^ went 
to Illinois, where he continued to prepare himself for his chosen profes- 
sion, and, just as the most flattering prospers were opening up to him as 
a lawyer, he became convinced that it was his duty to preach the Gospel. 
Adling under this conviftion, in 1856, he entered aftively upon the work 
of the ministry, and has been constantly engaged in this calling ever since. 
His labors have been chiefly confined to Illinois, though he has preached 
considerable in Missouri, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. 
During this time, he was located two years in Chicago, and a little over 
one, in Cincinnati. Most of his labor has been in the general field, and 
his success there has been all that could be desired, having received into 
the Church, by immersion, about two thousand two hundred persons. 

With Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Universalists, and Soul-sleep- 
ers, he has held twenty-Jive public discussions, two or three of which have 
been published. For one so young, this is a X2x\\^r pugnacious record; but 
when the faft is stated that he has declined equally as many discussions 
as accepted, and that he never challenged nor sought debate but once in 
his life, we may be inclined to alter our opinion somewhat. He is not 
afraid of discussion, but does not seek it. He thinks that honest investi- 
gation is the most certain way to elicit truth; hence, he has generally 

C253) 



254 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



accepted all fair propositions that would be of public interest. His de- 
bates have always been largely attended, and have never failed to gain new 
trophies for the cause of Christ. His home at present is at Winchester, 
Illinois. 

Brother Sweeney has, in some respefts, a peculiar mind. He can not 
be called a hard student of books; in faft, if you were with him awhile, 
you would think he never studies them at all. And yet his brain is 
never idle. He does not read much, but he thinks. He is forever work- 
ing at some problem in theological polemics, or arranging fails and argu- 
ments for use in preaching the Gospel; hence, his sermons abound in 
apt and forcible illustrations. His style of preaching is well adapted to 
the masses. Every argument is brought out with the utmost clearness, 
and, however we may be disposed to differ from him, there is never any 
excuse for misunderstanding him. 

While his mind is eminently logical, he has, nevertheless, fine descrip- 
tive powers, and is capable of producing superior word paintings. He has 
seen much of the world, not that he has traveled so extensively — though 
he has traveled considerable — but he has aftually experienced about what 
is the aggregate of human life, and this experience enables him to form 
very correft judgments of men and things. 

He is six feet high, has dark hair, light hazel eyes, and weighs about 
one hundred and seventy pounds. He has, naturally, a powerful physical 
constitution, though it is somewhat impaired by ill-usage. He is social 
and fraternal in his intercourse with men, but somewhat reticent as to his 
plans of life. 



BAPTISM— ITS ACTION, SUBJECT, AND 
DESIGN. 



BY J. S. SWEENEY. 



" Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them into the name of 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." — Matt, xxviii : 19, 

1 PROPOSE, in this discourse, to examine briefly three 
questions relating to baptism: i. What is it.^* 2. Who 
may Scripturally be baptized? and, 3. What is it for? 

I. What is Baptism ? 

An elaborate argument of this question is not pro- 
posed; a fair statement of it, of the positions of parties 
to it, and of what is claimed and what is conceded by these 
parties, being deemed all-sufficient for the purpose sought 
to be accomplished. 

The word "baptize" is not stridly English, but an 
Anglicised Greek word. What is the meaning of this 
word when expressed in English? Immersionists answer : 
It means simply immerse. Hence they claim that bap- 
tism is immersion; no more, no less. On the other hand, 
Pedobaptists, so-called, give the question no definite an- 
swer at all, but claim that immersion, pouring, and sprink- 
ling are all equally valid ''^ modes of baptism," and p.ra6lice 
accordingly. They hence do not, at the present day, define 
the word *' baptize" at all. And how can they do so, while 

(255) 



256 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



holding and pra6licing as they do? Suppose they were to 
say it means immerse, what authority would remain for 
pouring or sprinkling? And if they were to say it means 
''pour," then what authority would they have for immers- 
ing and sprinkling? And were they to define it ''sprinkle,'* 
then they would be left without any authority for immers- 
ing and pouring. If, therefore, they define the word "bap- 
tize" at all, they must give it a definition broad enough to 
cover their entire pradice; and if they define it to mean 
immerse, pour, and sprinkle — and nothing short of this 
will cover their whole pradice — then they would have to 
immerse, pour, and sprinkle a person before they could 
claim to have him fully baptized. Thus we see why it is 
they never define this word. This is deemed a fair state- 
ment of the positions of the parties to the question. 

I will next notice what is claimed and what conceded in 
the controversy. It is claimed by immersionists, that, in 
classic Greek literature, the word is invariably used in the 
sense of immerse; that, in every instance of its occurrence 
in Greek literature, it must be translated into immerse, 
or some of its equivalents, to make sense of the passage 
in which it stands. "Baptizein; Its Meaning and 
Use," a small volume, published by the American Bible 
Union, contains, it is claimed by the learned author (Dr. 
Conant), all the instances of the occurrence of this word 
in classic Greek literature, by an examination of which the 
English reader even may satisfy himself as to its uniform 
meaning. On the other hand, it is very generally conceded 
by Pedobaptist scholars that the word does usually have 
this sense in classic Greek. They claim, however, that it 
sometimes signifies "wash," "dye," "stain," etc. But in 
classic Greek they never translate it "pour" or "sprinkle." 
They claim that in the New Testament it is not used in 



J. S. SWEENEY. 257 



its classic sense. This is deemed a fair statement of what 
is claimed, and what conceded, as to the use of the word. 

The Greek lexicons define the word, very generally, in 
accordance with its use, to mean ''immerse," or what is 
equivalent to it, and very generally give this as its primary 
meaning, not one of them ever defining it to mean ^^ pour''' or 
'''Sprinkled They do, however, it is freely admitted, give 
''wash," "dye," "stain," as meanings of the word, but 
generally as secondary meanings, some of them being so 
careful as to say it has such meanings only by consequence. 
For example, Bailey says: '^Baptism, in stridness of 
speech, is that kind of washing which consists in dipping, 
and when applied to the Christian institution, so-called, 
it was used by the primitive Christians in no other sense 
than that of dipping."* Alstedius says; "Baptism, to 
baptize, signifies only to immerse, not to wash, except by 
consequence y "^ 

These lexicographers were Pedobaptists, and would be 
inclined, of course, to favor their own pradice as far as 
they could, and preserve their honor and reputation as 
scholars; yet, when they give wash as a meaning of bap- 
tize^ they are careful to say it does not have this meaning, 
"except by consequence." Baptism can only mean "that 
kind of washing which consists in dipping." And only 
in this sense can dye, stain, soil, etc., be given as mean- 
ings of the word. Any thing immersed may be w^ashed, 
dyed, or stained, as a consequence of the immersion; 
whether dyed, or washed, or stained, depends upon the 
charader of the element in which the immersion is per- 
formed. By metonymy, such consequences of an adion 
may be put for the adion itself. In this way we often 

♦Diet., Dr. Scott's ed., 1772. f Lex. Theolog., p. 221. 

17 



258 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



put wash, dye, stain, soil, etc., for the English word dip. 
For example: when the dyer dips an article into the dye, 
we say he dyes it, when, in strictness of speech, he dips it, 
and, as a consequence, it is dyed. When, then, the washer 
dips the same article into water, we say he washes it, 
when, in fad, that it is washed is only a consequence of 
the dipping in water. But shall we, therefore, conclude 
that wash is the meaning of dip ? Certainly not. So it 
is of baptize, exadly. Wash, dye, stain, etc., are only 
consequential significations of the word. It would be a 
wonderful word, indeed, to mean primarily to wash, and, 
at the same time, to mean primarily to dye, which is pre- 
cisely the opposite. These opposite ideas can only be at- 
tached to the word by metonymy. But are we to take the 
word baptize in the New Testament in this secondary and 
consequential sense exclusively? Or, shall we not rather 
take it in its primary, usual, and most known signification ? 
We have no special rule given for the interpretation of 
words in the Bible, nor have we any intimation that this 
word baptize is therein used in any other than its usual 
and known signification; and hence, if it is not subjed to 
the known and ordinary rules of interpretation, the Bible 
is more a deception than a revelation. But we must avoid 
this conclusion; and how shall we do it ? Simply by in- 
terpreting this word in the ordinary way. Let us, there- 
fore, read an acknowledged rule of interpretation of words: 
Sir William Blackstone says : " Words of a law are gener- 
ally to be understood in their usual and most known signifi- 
cation, not so much regarding the propriety of grammar as 
their general 3.nd popular use.*'* Common sense floats upon 
the very surface of this rule. It is one by which all trans- 

* Commentaries, vol. i, Introd., sec. ii. 



J. S. SWEENEY. 259 



iators, aswell as interpreters, mustbegoverned, the only ex- 
ception to the rule being where the circumstances of its use 
imperiously demand for any word a secondary signification, 
to preserve the sense and congruity of the passage in which 
the word occurs. As, therefore, the word baptize stands in 
the New Testament without any express qualification, we 
must accept it in its current, usual, and most known signi- 
fication — which, confessedly, is immerse — unless the sense 
and congruity of the Scripture language are made to suffer. 

Let us next notice the New Testament use of the word, 
and see whether or not the sense, propriety, or congruity of 
the Scripture language will suffer from a literal translation 
of it. In the record of John's administration of the rite, 
we have the following passages : 

"And there went out unto him all the land of Judea, 
and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in 
the river of Jordan." (Mark i: 5.) "Jesus came from 
Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan." 
(Matt, iii: 10.) "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went 
up straightway out of the water." "And John was bap- 
tizing in Enon, near to Salim, because there was much 
water there." (John iii : 23.) 

To read, " were immersed of him in the river," makes 
good sense. Between this rendering of the word, and the 
fad that the baptizing was done "in the river," there is 
no incongruity; while to substitute either pour or sprinkle 
for baptize will destroy the sense and congruity of the pas- 
sage. ^^ Poured in the river, of him''' — that is, the people 
were poured in the river, of John — is rather an awkward, 
not to say absurd, reading. Again : to say Jesus " was 
immersed in Jordan, of John," conveys sense to the reader ; 
and between this reading and the fad that Jesus, "when 
he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water," 



26o THE LIVING PULPIT. 



there is no such palpable incongruity as is created by the 
substitution of either pour or sprinkle. And, why was 
John " baptizing in Enon ?" " Because there was much 
water there." For immersing, "much water" is a neces- 
sity; while, for pouring or sprinkling, a very little will 
suffice. This circumstance, then, to say the least of it, 
rather favors immersion. To evade this argument, it is 
sometimes said by the advocates of pouring and sprink- 
ling that, doubtless, the "much water" was needed for 
other purposes than that of baptizing, and, therefore, it was 
that John was preaching there. But, evidently, no such 
notion was in the mind of the Spirit. The fad that "there 
was much water there," is given as the reason why "John 
was baptizing in Enon, near Salim." 

In the record of the A5ls of the Apostles we have this re- 
markably circumstantial case given : "And as they [Philip 
and the eunuch] went on their way, they came to a certain 
water, and the eunuch said. See, here is water, what doth 
hinder me to be baptized ?..... And they both went 
down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he 
baptized him, and when they had come up out of the 
water," etc. (Ads viii: 36-39.) 

Here, it is said, that in order to baptize, they went down 
into the water ^ and when the baptizing was performed, they 
came up out of the water. Do these circumstances of the 
use of "baptize" demand for it a secondary rather than its 
usual signification? Certainly not. The word "baptize" 
means immerse, and the circumstances here recorded 
strongly indicate it. So strongly and plainly does this lan- 
guage indicate immersion, that we see persons now-a-days 
frequently go down into the water merely to sprinkle a few 
drops on the face of a candidate. And why should they 
go down into the water for such purpose ? Who can tell .^ 



J. S. SWEENEY. 261 



In Paul's epistles we have the following allusions to bap- 
tism, which imply immersion as clearly as any language 
can: "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into 
death." (Rom. vi: 4.) ''Buried with him in baptism, 
wherein also ye are risen with him." (Col. ii: 12.) ''Hav- 
ing our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our 
bodies washed with pure water." (Heb. x: 22.) No hon- 
est person, though unlearned, need be in doubt as to what 
baptism is with these passages before him. To substitute 
pouring or sprinkling for baptism in any one of these pas- 
sages, would make the passage perfedly absurd. And can 
persons, who have only had a few drops of water sprinkled 
on their faces, say, we have had our bodies washed "with, pure 
water? Will pouring or sprinkling answer the demands 
of this passage in Hebrews? Certainly not. Then, we 
find that the use of the word in the New Testament, the 
circumstances recorded as to the performance of the rite, 
the references to it in the Epistles, as well as the explana- 
tions of its significance, require its primary sense, and will 
not admit of a secondary one. 

"I indeed baptize you with water" is sometimes cited 
as indicating an application of water to the subjeft, rather 
than an immersion of the subjeft in water; but it is ex- 
ceedingly difficult to see how any scholar can rely on this 
passage as favoring pouring and sprinkling. The word 
"with," in the passage, is not a corred rendering of the 
Greek word en, for it can not be denied that en most usually 
signifies in. And would it not be much easier to give it its 
primary meaning in the passage, and read, "I indeed bap- 
tize you in water," than to harmonize all the other passages 
noticed with the idea of pouring and sprinkling? And, 
then, if this does prove an application of the water to the 
subjed, we can not translate baptize, pour, or sprinkle, for 



262 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



neither of these is even a secondary meaning of the word. 
It is never so translated or defined. 

Down to the middle of the last century, it was admitted 
by Pedobaptists very generally, that haptixe means im 
merse; that our Lord instituted immersion; that the apos 
ties practiced it exclusively; and that the Church knew 
nothing else for baptism till the middle of the third cen- 
tury; and that affusion of water for baptism was substi- 
tuted by the Churchy in favor o{ clinics^ and for convenience, 
where the climate was cold and water scarce. To all this 
only eminent Pedobaptists shall testify. And in the first 
place, we will hear one whose ecclesiastical history is a stand- 
ard among Protestants, and who was himself a Lutheran. 

Dr. MosHEiM : '^ The sacrament of baptism was ad- 
ministered in this [the first] century without the public 
assemblies, in places appointed and prepared for that pur- 
pose, and was performed by an immersion of the whole 
body in the baptismal font." * Also, speaking of baptism 
in the second century, the same author says : " The persons 
that were to be baptized, after they had repeated the creed, 
confessed and renounced their sins, and particularly the 
devil and his pompous allurements, were immersed under 
water." So much for primitive practice. 

Dr. Wall, author of the '' History of Infant Bap- 
tism," says: "In cases of sickness, weakness, haste, want 
of quantity of water, or such like extraordinary occasions, 
baptism by aflfusion of water on the face was by the an- 
cients counted sufficient baptism." The dodlor then pro- 
ceeds to give a few of the "most ancient cases" of such 
baptism, and gives, as the most ancient case, that of No- 
vatian, who had water poured upon him, on a sick bed, 

* Eccl. Hist., vol. I, p. 46. 



J. S. SWEENEY. 263 



A D. 251. And this was counted sufficient baptism only 
hy the Church at that day.^^ 

Richard Baxter : '' We grant that baptism, then, [in 
primitive times] was by washing the whole body, and did 
not the difference of our cold country as to that hot one 
teach us to remember ' I will have mercy, and not sacri- 
fice,' // should be so here^^ 

Grotius : '' The custom of sprinkling or pouring seems 
to have prevailed in favor of those who were dangerously 
ill, and were desirous of giving up themselves to the Lord, 
whom others callQd clinics, -See the Epistle of Cyprian to 
Magnus." J 

Perkins : " The ancient custom of baptizing was to dip, 
and, as it were, to dive all the body of the baptized under 
the water, as may appear in Paul, Rom. vi, and the coun- 
cils of Laodicea and Neocesarea; but now, specially in cold 
countries, the Church useth only to sprinkle the baptized, 
by reason of children's weakness — for very few of ripe years 
are nowadays baptized. We need not much to marvel at this 
alteration^ seeing charity and necessity may dispense with 
ceremonies and mitigate in equity the sharpness of them." || 

Wesley explains Rom. vi: 3, "Alluding to the ancient 
manner of baptizing by immersion." § 

Next, that we may have the matter still more clearly 
before us, we will hear from a distinguished Romanist. 
Speaking of " the foundation of continuing the com- 
munion under one kind," as he styled the subjedt. Bos- 
suet says : " Baptism, by immersion, which is as clearly 

* See Wall's Hist. Inf. Bap., part ii, chap, ix, p. 463. 
f Paraphrase of the New Testament, at Matt, iii : 6. 
JApud Poll. Synopsin, and Matt, iii: 6. 
II Works, vol. i, p. 74, edit. 1608. 
§ Notes on New Testament. 



264 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



established in Scripture as communion under the two kinds 
can possibly be, has, nevertheless, been changed into pour- 
ing, with as much ease and as little dispute, as communion 
under one kind has been established. It is a fad: most 
firmly believed by the Reformed (though some of them at 
this day wrangle about it) that baptism was instituted to he 
administered hy plunging the body entirely; that Jesus Christ 
received it in this manner; that it was thus performed by 
his apostles; that the Scriptures are acquainted with no 
other baptism; that antiquity understood and pradiced it 
in this manner; and that to baptize is to plunge — these fads, 
I say, are unanimously acknowledged by all the Reformed 
teachers ; by the Reformers themselves ; by those who best 
understood the Greek language and the ancient customs 
of both Jews and Christians; by Luther, by Melan6lhon, 
by Calvin, by Casaubon, by Grotius, with all the rest ; 
and since their time, by Jurieu, the most ready to contra- 
did: of all their ministers. Luther has even remarked that 
this sacrament is called Tauf^ in German, on account of 
the depth; because they plunged deeply in the water those 
whom they baptized. If there be in the world a fad: abso- 
lutely certain, it is this. Yet it is no less certain, that, with 
all these authors, baptism, without immersion, is counted 
as lawful; and that the Church properly retains the custom 
of pouring.*'* 

What is here so boldly and so frankly said by this Ro- 
manist has been often repeated in the faces of Protestant 
Pedobaptists, and it remains for one of them to make a 
resped:able attempt at refutation. It is not strange that 
they do not attempt it. The entire history of the Church 
is against them. Their brethren, men of learning, such 

* Hist, des Egleses Protest., torn, ii, pp. 469, 470. 



J. S. SWEENEY. 265 



as those named by this Romanist, have conceded every 
thing in the controversy. 

Lastly, we will hear the testimony of English Episcopa- 
lians. Only two of them shall testify. 

Bishop Burnet: ''We know that the first ritual of bap- 
tism was by going into the waters, and being laid as dead 
all along in them; and then the persons baptized were 
raised up again, and so they came out of them. This is 
not only mentioned by St. Paul, but in two different places 
he gives a mystical signification of the rite; that it signi- 
fied our being buried with Christ in baptism^ and our being 
raised up with him to a new life : so that the phrases of ris- 
ing with Christ, and of putting on Christ, as oft as they 
occur, do plainly relate to this ; and yet, partly out of 
modesty, partly in regard to the tenderness of infants, and 
the coldness of these climates, since such a manner might 
endanger their lives, and we know that God loves mercy 
better than sacrifice, this form of baptizing is as little used 
by those [Pedobaptists] who separate from us, as by our- 
selves From all these things, this inference 

seems just: That according to the pradlice of those who 
divide from us, the Church must be supposed to have au- 
thority to adjust the forms of our religion, in those parts 
of them that are merely ritual, to the taste, to the exigen- 
cies and conveniences of the several ages and climates.*'* 

This right reverend prelate speaks forth boldly and un- 
mistakably. He believes the Church has power to decree 
and change ceremonies. It was hence little trouble for 
him to defend pouring and sprinkling for baptism. But 
Church authority was his sole ground of defense. He be- 
lieved not only that the Church had the right to make it, 

* Discourses to the Clergy, pp. 281, 282. 



266 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



but that the change from immersion to pouring and sprink- 
ling was a wise and prudent one, having respect, as it did, to 
"modesty," ''the tenderness of infants," "coldness of cli- 
mates," the "danger to life," and to the fad: that "God 
loves mercy better than sacrifice." 

Mr. Evans : "There is a confessed variation allowed of 
and pradiced by the generality of Dissenters, both Presby- 
terians and Independents, from the institution and pradice 
of Christ and his apostles, in the sacrament of baptism ; 
for they have changed immersion, or dipping, into asper- 
sion, or sprinkling, and pouring water on the face. Bap- 
tism by immersion, or dipping, is suitable to the institu- 
tion of our Lord, and the pradice of the apostles, and 
was by them ordained and used to represent our burial 
with Christ, a death to sin and a new birth into righteous- 
ness, as St. Paul explains that rite." * 

This testimony — and it might be tediously accumu- 
lated — shows that, in the last century even, there was no 
controversy about the institution of our Lord, or the prac- 
tice of the apostles. Then pouring and sprinkling rested 
confessedly upon no higher authority than that of a fal- 
lible and corrupt Church. Since such authority has fallen 
into disrepute, men have begun to claim Scripture author- 
ity for the pradlice of pouring and sprinkling. Some have 
made such astonishing progress as to deny flatly that the 
Savior himself was immersed, or that the apostles ever 
immersed any body; and all this in the face of what we 
have read from their own authorities, as well as from the 
Scriptures. 

To conclude this question, we have seen that, confess- 
edly, the word baptize was used by the Greeks in the sense 

* Cases to Recover Dissenters, vol. iii, pp. 105, 106, 3d edit. 



J. S. SWEENEY. 267 



of Immerse, and never in that of pour or sprinkle ; that 
it is, accordingly, defined by the lexicons to mean immerse, 
not one of them defining it to mean pour or sprinkle; 
that, when it is defined to mean wash, dye, stain, etc., it 
is explained that it has these meanings only by. consequence; 
that its use in the New Testament not only justifies, but 
demands for it the sense of immersion there ; and, lastly, 
that, down to the middle of the last century, it was ad- 
mitted by Pedobaptists themselves that the word baptize 
means immerse; that our Lord instituted and his apostles 
pra(5liced only immersion; that pouring and sprinkling 
were substituted by the Church in favor of clinics^ and, in 
consideration of "modesty," the "tenderness of infants" 
and "coldness of climates," quoting only for Divine au- 
thority that "God will have mercy, and not sacrifice." 
How far the argument, so briefly drawn, falls short of 
demonstration, let candid people for themselves decide. 

II. Who may Scripturally be Baptized? 

That believers may properly be baptized, no one denies. 
All parties that practice baptizing at all are agreed that 
believers may properly be admitted to baptism. But here 
those called Antipedobaptists stop, this being the extent 
of their affirmation. Pedobaptists go farther, and affirm 
that infants also may scripturally be baptized. Some of 
them say all infants, and some say only infants of believ- 
ing parents, may properly be admitted to baptism. This 
subdivision, however, is one with which we have nothing 
to do. We deny that any infant can be scripturally bap- 
tized. To the extent of the difference on this question, 
it will be readily seen that Pedobaptists are properly in 
the affirmative, and, of course, the burden of proof falls 
due to them. How, then, can they prove that infants of 



268 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



any kind may scripturally be baptized ? They do not 
claim that they can prove it by express precept or example 
of the Scriptures. On this point, we will hear what the 
affirmants themselves say. 

Bishop Burnet: "There is no express precept or rule 
given in the Scriptures for the baptism of infants."* 

Dr. Wall, speaking of John's baptism, says: '' There 
is no express mention of any children baptized by him." 
Again, he says: "Among all the persons recorded as bap- 
tized by the apostles, there is no express mention of any 
infants. "•{* 

Fuller: "We do freely confess that there is neither ex- 
press precept, nor precedent, in the New Testament for 
the baptizing of infants." And the very best this learned 
divine could say as to Divine authority for his pradice 
stands in these words : " There were many things which 
Jesus did which are not written, among which, for aught 
appears to the contrary, the baptizing of these infants 
(mentioned Luke xviii: 15—17) might be one of them. "J 

Martin Luther: "It can not be proved by the sacred 
Scripture that infant baptism was instituted by Christ, or 
begun by the first Christians after the apostles ;"|| and scores 
of such concessions of eminent men who lived in Luther's 
time, before and after, might be quoted ; but these suffi- 
ciently show that, whatever authority was then claimed for 
the pradice of infant baptism, it was conceded that the 
Scriptures are silent upon the subje6t. This is still conceded 
by the advocates of the pra6lice. In proof of this, let us 
read, from an article on baptism prepared by a committee 

* Expos, of the Thirty-nine Articles, art. xxvii. 

flntrod. Hist. Infant Baptism, pp. 1-55. 

J Infant's Adv., pp. 71, 150. 

II A. R.'s Vanity of Infant Baptism, part ii, p. 8. 



J. S. SWEENEY. lG() 



appointed by the General Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, in i860, to take the place of Mr. Wes- 
ley's treatise on that subjed, in the Dodrinal Trafts, which 
article is now published with the indorsement of Confer- 
ence : ''That there is no such express warrant for the bap- 
tism of infants [as for the baptism of believers] is freely 
acknowledged. ""■" And again, (p. 1^^^^ this Trad: says: 
'^ We do not pretend to found the right of infant bap- 
tism on any supposed precept or example of the Scrip- 
tures which expressly declares that infants were, or that 
they should be baptized.'* Since, then, the advocates ^^ do 
not pretend to found the right of infant baptism on any 
supposed precep^. or example of the Scriptures," upon 
what is it founded ? What are the grounds of it ? This 
question they may answer in their own words. But they 
are far, very far, from agreement in their answers. They 
agree that the baptism of infants should be retained. 
They agree very generally as to the profound silence of 
the Bible on the subjed; but when they come to the rea- 
sons for the pradice, they go apart widely. We will hear 
a few of them : 

Mr. Wesley : " As to the grounds of it, if infants are 
guilty of original sin, then they are proper subjeds of 
baptism, seeing, in the ordinary way, they can not be saved 
unless this be washed away by baptism."-)- So the Meth- 
odist Church believed and taught, up to the year i860, 
when they refused any longer to publish and indorse Mr. 
Wesley's treatise. The learned 

Mr. Walker said : ''Where authority from the Scrip- 
ture fails, there the custom of the Church is to be held as a lawJ'X 

* Doftrinal Tracts, p. 25c 

f Doftrinal Trafts, 1832 edit., p. 251. 

\ Modern Plea for Infant Baptism, p. 22 1, 



270 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Henry Ward Beecher admits frankly that there is 
nothing whatever said about the pradice of infant baptism 
in the Bible; and also that no legitimate dedu6lions can 
be drawn thence in its favor; and, for authority, falls back 
on what he calls ^^ Christian liberty ^'^ claiming that Chris- 
tians have a right to pradice whatever experience has shown 
to be ''a good thing;" as, for example, we put a yoke upon 
oxen, because experience has shown it to be a good insti- 
tution. Now, when we consider that the Bible is confess- 
edly silent upon the subjed: of infant baptism (it being 
only claimed that possibly among the unwritten sayings of 
our Lord some authority might be found, for aught we 
know to the contrary), and that some found the right of 
it upon the guilt of infants; others upon "the custom of 
the Church;' and still others, upon "Christian liberty;" 
are we not warranted in calling it simply a human tradition} 
May we not safely say that it had its origin in no higher 
authority than that of the Church, and in a very dark 
period of its history at that? Nevertheless, we must con- 
fess it is of great antiquity, having been pradiced by a 
majority of professing Christians for perhaps fifteen cen- 
turies ; and, in consideration of this fad, it is certainly 
entitled to resped, so far as Christians are at liberty to 
resped a human tradition of this kind. Is it an innocent 
tradition? If so, its innocence should go far to shield it 
from attack. We will not require our Pedobaptist friends 
to prove that it is "a good thing," but only to establish 
its innocence. But this even remains to be done to our 
satisfadion. We know that our Lord ordained, and his 
apostles commanded, in his name, that believers should be 
baptized. But infant baptism, so-called, stands in the 
way of this command. To the extent of its prevalence, 
it makes void the command of the Lord, to believer s^ to 



J. S. SWEENEY. 27 T 



be baptized. This should sink it forever in the estima- 
tion of every Christian. The Lord said: ''Go teach all 
nations, baptizing them ;" " Go preach the Gospel to every 
creature; he that believes and is baptized shall be saved." 
And so his apostles did, baptizing none others than be- 
lievers, as has been conceded by the advocates of infant 
baptism. To our Lord's command, and to the precept 
and precedent of his apostles, we must be true. There- 
fore we are bound to require believers to be baptized; and 
as the tradition In question comes in the way of this, we 
must oppose it. We say to its advocates, in the language 
of the Savior, "Ye have made the commandment of God 
of none effe6l by your tradition," and we dare not hold 
our peace. It will not do to tell us '' infants are guilty 
of original sin ^ and must therefore be baptized. In the first 
place, Infants are not guilty of original sin. But if they 
were, and baptism were necessary to their cleansing, the 
Lord would have ordained it (and it would have been 
found among his written sayings), and his apostles would 
have pradiced it. Nor will any supposed authority, among 
the ''''unwritten ^ sayings of the Savior satisfy us. Why 
was it not written ? Nor is Christian liberty sufficient 
ground for it. While we gladly agree that Christians have 
great liberty, we do not believe that even they have liberty 
to make void the commandments of God, teaching for 
do(5lrine the commandments of men. Nor yet will it si- 
lence us to say that "where authority from Scripture fails, 
there the custom of the Church is to he held as a lawT We 
resped antiquity, but have not sufficient resped for all the 
mere customs of the Church to receive them as laws. 

Baptism Is " the answer of a good conscience toward 
God." (i Pet. HI: 21.) But infants can have no con- 
science in baptism. Therefore infants can not properly 



272 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



be baptized. Whatever else may not be, it is clear that 
some conscience is essential to baptism. It may be said, 
'' But an infant could properly be circumcised, and v/hy 
not as properly be baptized ? " The cases are not parallel. 
In the former case, parents were commanded to have their 
children circumcised; in the latter, the obligation rests 
upon each individual person to be baptized. Circumcis- 
ion was a mark in t\\Q flesh for the natural seed of Abraham, 
and hence infants could receive it; while baptism is an ad: 
o{ faith ^ having nothing to do with the flesh, but with the 
conscience; and hence infants can not properly receive it. 
Paul, speaking to the Romans (sixth chapter) of their bap- 
tism, says: "Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of 
dodrine which was delivered you." But infants can have 
no heart in baptism, nor can they ohey in any sense. There- 
fore infants can not scripturally be baptized. "If thou 
believest with all thy heart, thou mayest" be baptized, is 
a rule by which Christians must be governed in admitting 
persons to baptism. 

III. What is Baptism for? 

The Disciples teach that it is for the remission of sins. 
They are the only religious people among Protestants 
who, at the present day, hold this position. True, the 
same is taught in almost all the creeds and standard books 
of the popular parties, though disavowed by their press 
and living pulpits. A few definitive remarks, therefore, 
are deemed necessary in entering upon the discussion of 
this question. 

I. We interpret the Scripture phrase, "for the remis- 
sion of sins," to mean in order to the remission of sins; and, 
hence, make baptism antecedent to remission. We do 
not believe, as has often been said of us, that baptism, in 



J. S. SWEENEY. 273 



any sense, procures remission. It is simply a condition — a 
condition precedent to remission; a condition because the 
Lord has made it so, by positive law. This is the extent 
and fullness of our affirmation on this question. 

2. We make a distindion between conversion, or what 
is very generally called regeneration, and remission of sins. 
Conversion, as it is popularly understood, is internal, and 
pertains to the mind and heart; and, so far as this is true, 
it precedes baptism. And conversion certainly does per- 
tain to the mind and heart 0/ the converted, though not 
wholly. But what is popularly called conversion and re- 
generation is an internal work to the converted, and pre- 
cedes baptism. One is not properly a subjed of baptism 
till, in the popular sense, he is converted, or regenerated. 
Hence, the charge of "baptismal regeneration" sometimes 
preferred against us, is entirely without foundation in 
truth, growing out of a popular confounding of conver- 
sion and remission of sins, which, with us, are two very 
distind things. And that this distindion is scriptural, is 
made obvious by these passages : " Repent ye, therefore, 
and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.'* 
(Acts iii : 19.) " Lest at any time they should see with 
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand 
with their heart, and should be converted, and I should 
heal them." (Matt, xii : 15.) The blotting out of sins is 
remission, and comes after conversion. So, in the other 
passage, healing is remission, and comes after conversion. 
The popular error of confounding conversion and remis- 
sion of sins together as one thing, has caused much in- 
justice to be done us as a people. We simply teach that 
baptism is in order to, and, hence, a condition precedent 
to, the remission of sins, remission being something tke 
Lord does for the converted person. 
18 



274 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



3. We teach that this is so now^ in the Gospel dispen- 
sation. We hold that the law of pardon, under the Gos- 
pel, went forth from Jerusalem after the ascension of the 
Savior and the descent of the Holy Spirit; that it was 
promulgated for the first time by the Holy Spirit, through 
Peter, at Jerusalem, on the first Pentecost after our Lord's 
ascension, as is recorded in the second chapter of the Ads 
of Apostles. This is in accordance with prophecy, and 
the teaching of our Lord and his apostles : ''And it shall 
come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the 
Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mount- 
ains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations 
shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, 
Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, 
to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us 
his ways, and we will walk in his paths : for out of Zion 
shall go forth the law^ and the word of the Lord from Jeru- 
salem!' (Isaiah ii : 2, 3.) That this prophecy relates to 
the founding of the kingdom or Church of Christ, few, 
if any, will for a moment question. It teaches that the 
Church was to be established ''^ in the last days;' that ''^ all 
nations'' were to flow unto it, and that the ^''law was to go 
forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." 
And our Savior says (Luke xxiv: 46, 47): "Thus it is 
written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise 
from the dead the third day; and that repentance and 
remission of sins should be preached in his name among 
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem," Hence, he said to his 
apostles, whom he had commissioned to preach remission 
of sins to all nations'. " But tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem 
until ye be endued with power from on high." There- 
fore, when the apostles were endued with power from on 
high at Jerusalem, they began first to preach "repentance 



J. S. SWEENEY. 275 



and remission of sins," which was for '''' all nations!'' Then 
and thence went forth the law of the Lord — the law of the 
New Institution — from Jerusalem. Then and there, ^' at 
Jerusalem," the place of ''the beginning," in the ''last 
days," Peter, directed by power from on high, propounded 
the law of the New Institution. To heart-pierced be- 
lievers he said: "Repent, and be baptized every one of 
you, in the name of Jesus Christ, /^r the remission of sins T 
This was the first promulgation of this law, which, be it 
remembered, was for all nations. Now, the question to 
be determined is : Does this language of Peter make 
baptism a condition precedent to remission of sins? We 
say It does, and here we will stand or fall. The contro- 
versy hinges on the meaning of the word " for." We 
say it here means in order to, while it is contended by our 
opponents that its sense is because of. It will be granted 
that it sometimes has the meaning we give it In this case; 
and we are ready to admit that it sometimes means because 
of. And what Is here said of "for" may be truly said of 
the Greek word it represents. Then, can we ascertain 
what the word means in this -passage? Happily for the 
truth, there is a circumstance in the case which enables us 
to determine this question. It is this : The relation which 
"for" expresses here between baptism and remission. Is 
the same that repentance sustains to remission, the relation 
of both to remission being expressed at once by the same 
word; therefore, that relation is one. The law to the be- 
liever is, "Repent, and be baptized for the remission of 
sins." Will any one say that we may read, " Repent, and 
be baptized because ^the remission of sins .?" Does any 
one believe In repentance because ^the remission of sins? 
No one so believes. No one so preaches. The relation 
of repentance to remission is that of a precedent to a sub- 



276 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



sequent. But the relation of baptism must be the same, 
for it is expressed by the same word, and at the same time; 
therefore, the relation of baptism to remission of sins is 
that of a precedent to a subsequent. This argument has 
never been met. We feel perfedly confident it never can 
be. Thus far, our opponents have only attempted to 
evade it, by claiming that, if we allow that /or remission 
means t;?7 order to remission, it makes Peter's teaching on 
this occasion conflid: with his teaching at other times and 
places, as well as with the teaching of Scripture generally, 
on this subje6t. But this has never been shown to be 
true. 

Time will only allow reference to be made to some 
other Scriptures which teach the same as the one just ex- 
amined. 

In the commission, our Savior makes baptism for the 
remission of sins in the same sense, in these words : "//<? 
that helieveth and is baptized shall be saved*' By "saved" 
here, it is very generally agreed that remission of sins is 
meant, to which the Savior's language evidently makes 
baptism a condition precedent. 

^^ Arise and be baptized^ and wash away thy sins, calling on 
the name of the Lord!' (Ads xxii : 16.) 

If baptism be not a condition going before remission 
of sins, this passage becomes a puzzle, and who can tel 
what it means ? 

''^Baptism doth also now save us'' (i Pet. iii : 21.) \^ 
baptism is not for the remission of sins, in what sense 
does it ''''now save us?" 

Many other passages of Scripture might be cited that 
teach the same thing ; but these will suffice the candid, 
and others can not be reached. 





H ,W. C«iToll & Go PuiMisbBn.C 



WINTHROP HARTLY HOPSON. 



XX/'INTHROP HARTLY HOPSON was born in Christian County, 
Kentucky, April 26, 1823. His father. Dr. Samuel Hopson, vfas 
born in Culpepper County, Virginia ; his mother, Sallie Clark, daughter 
of Captain John Clark, deceased, of Calloway County, Missouri, was born 
in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. His grandfather. Colonel Joseph Hopson, was 
an officer in the Revolution, under General Daniel Morgan. His mother's 
grandfather, Henry Clark, was a patriot brigadier-general of North Caro- 
lina in the Revolution of '76. 

At an unusually early age the subjeft of this sketch learned to read and 
write. He went to the common school of his father's neighborhood until 
he was eight years of age, when he was sent to Bonne Femme Academy, 
in the adjoining county of Boone. He commenced at once the study of 
Latin. With occasional intermissions, he was at school, from home, nine 
consecutive sessions of ten months. 

Portions of 1836 and 1837, he was at school in Jacksonville, Illinois. 
While there, he boarded in the family of that great reformer, preacher, 
and eminent Christian, B. W. Stone. Under his preaching, the evening 
of the first Lord's day in August, 1837, in Jacksonville, the Doctor made 
the good confession, and, the next day, was immersed in a stream near by. 

His father had him educated for the law, and the Hon. Edward Bates, 
of St. Louis, had agreed to take him into his office as a pupil; but, feeling 
it to be his duty to preach the Gospel, in 1839, ^^ ^^^ home in Fulton, 
Calloway County, Missouri, he delivered his first public exhortation to 
sinners. This effort was a decided success, and, from that time, he con- 
tinued to exhort at all the protradled meetings he attended, until, in 1842, 
at Millersburg, Missouri, he was regularly set apart to the ministry. 

On the 30th of April, 184}., he was married, in Gasconade, Missouri, 
to Miss Rebecca Griswold Parsons, and, in the following February, his 
father died. Having now a wife and widowed mother to support, and 
receiving a very small salary for preaching — the first seven years of his 
ministry yielding not over fifty dollars per year — he decided to commence 
the study of medicine, with the hope that he could the better support his 



278 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



family, and, at the same time, preach the gospel. Accordingly, in the 
winter of 1 846, he attended his first course of medical leftures in St. Louis, 
and, the next spring, began the pradlice of medicine in his own neighbor- 
hood, in Osage County, within a mile of the Gasconade line. 

In April, 1 847, his wife died, young in years, but rich in faith and good 
works. He now moved to Fayette, Howard County, and preached for 
the Church, at the same time prafticing his profession. In the winter of 
1847 and 1848, he completed the course in the Medical Department of 
Missouri University, in St. Louis, and received the degree of M D. The 
subsequent March, he was married to Miss Caroline Henly Gray, of 
Fulton, Missouri. She died, September 20, 1849, in the triumphs of the 
Christian faith. He now abandoned the practice of medicine forever, and 
gave himself entirely to the ministry of the Word. 

In September, 1850, he was married to Mrs. Ella Lord Chappell, his 
present wife. The next month, at the State Meeting in Fayette, he was 
requested to aft as Evangelist, and in December he commenced his work. 

For seven years, he taught a successful female school at Palmyra. He 
spent the year 1858 traveling in Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky. In Jan- 
uary, 1859, -^^ ^^^^ a remarkable protrafted meeting in Cincinnati. For 
six weeks the interest was unparalleled, and about ninety were added to 
the Church. In December, he took charge of the Church at Lexington, 
Kentucky, which position he held until April, 1862, when he entered upon 
the work of an Evangelist. He is now located in Richmond, Virginia, 
where his labors are highly appreciated, and his success very encouraging. 

Dr. HopsoN is six feet one inch and a half high, very ere6l, and weighs 
about two hundred and ten pounds. He has excellent health, and never 
tires in preaching the Gospel. He is one of the ablest preachers among 
the Disciples. But he is a speaker, not a writer; a reasoner, rather than 
exhorter; a good pastor, but better Evangelist. He is more than an aver- 
age scholar, and his general reading is quite extensive, though he is often 
careless in the seledlion of choice words. He aims to be understood, and, 
in the possession of a happy communicative talent, he has no peer. No 
one who listens can fail to comprehend him. Even in a Greek criticism, 
he makes every thing plain to the people. Though remarkably dignified 
and courtly in his bearing, he is, nevertheless, a people*s man — they feel 
that they can understand him. In his advocacy of the truth, he is bold, 
belligerent, and fearless. He carries the war right into Africa; conse- 
quently, the sedts do not love him. But he is very popular with both the 
preachers and churches of his own brethren. He is especially kind to 
young preachers, and always helps them in whatever way he can. In 
money matters, he is liberal to a fault, and never turns a deaf ear to the 
poor and needy. 



BAPTISM ESSENTIAL TO SALVATION. 



BY W. H. HOPSON. 



"And he said unto them. Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gos- 
pel to every creature. He that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved; 
but he that believeth not shall be damned."- -Mark xvi: 15, 16. 

I THINK that the subjed seleded for consideration in 
this sermon, should be fairly, faithfully, fully discussed. 
Hitherto, in my opinion, this has not been done. In the 
''Quarterly," ''Harbinger," and in our other religious 
papers, every doctrine and praftice peculiar to the Disciples 
of Christ is being subjeded to the most thoughtful review. 
This is right. The pulpit also is engaged, equally with 
the press, in this thorough reconsideration of the issues 
between the Disciples and the opponents of " the truth 
as it is in Jesus." This existing spirit of honest, earnest, 
searching inquiry into the teaching of the Christ and the 
apostles on the subjed of man's religious faith, obliga- 
tion, and duty, as relates both to the saint and the sinner, 
is a most praiseworthy and hopeful condition of things. 
I propose, in this discourse, in harmony with this com- 
mendable spirit of re-investigation of the things pertain- 
ing to the spiritual interests of mankind, to contribute 
my aid, in this diredion; and shall, therefore, call your 
attention to the consideration of one of the earlier, rather 

(279) 



2 8o THE LIVING PULPIT. 



than the later, issues of the current religious reformatory 
movement. 

Aiming at no display of scholarship, carefully avoiding 
all criticism upon Greek particles, and making simply a 
plain argument, in plain English, to plain, common-sense 
people, I hope that the sermon will be produdive of good 
in determining the precise conditions precedent to the 
enjoyment of forgiveness on the part of the sinner against 
God. 

In order to a proper appreciation of the argument on 
the part of the hearer, I deem a few preliminary explana- 
tory statements of high importance. There must be, in 
the discussion of the thing before us, no dodging of the 
precise issue, no misunderstanding of terms, no confusion 
of speech. To this end, a satisfadory definition of the 
words used in forming the proposition is necessary, as 
well as a definite understanding of the extent to which the 
proposition reaches. Before this is done, let me dired: 
your attention to the law of pardon, as given by the Sav- 
ior to his apostles. The statement, as recorded in Mat- 
thew xxviii: 19, 20, relates more especially to the duties 
of the apostles as ambassadors of the Christ. This I 
shall designate the Apostolic Commission. It reads thus : 
-"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go 
ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them into 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Spirt : teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I 
have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even 
unto the end of the world. Amen." This statement con- 
tains a declaration of the Son of God as to his supreme 
authority; a command to the apostles to teach, to baptize, 
and to teach "all things;" and 2i promise that he would be 
with them "alway, even unto the end of the world." The 



W. H. HOPSON. 281 

Statements, as recorded by Mark xvi : 15, 16, and by Luke 
xxiv: 46, 47, I shall unitize into the following: '*Go ye 
into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. 
He that believes, repents, and is baptized, shall be saved; 
he that believeth not shall be damned." This form of the 
Divine utterance relates more especially to the duties of 
the sinner. It contains, it is true, a command to the apos- 
tles to ''go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to 
every creature," but, it will be admitted, nevertheless, by 
all, that its main feature is a definite promise from the Sav- 
ior, through the apostles, of'salvation to the sinner, upon 
the sinner's believing, repenting, and being baptized. I 
would, then, designate this '' The Savior's Amnesty Proc- 
lamation." 

Salvation, in the proposition, is equivalent to pardon, 
remission of sins, or forgiveness of sins. ''Essential" is 
that which is not only very important, but indispensably 
necessary. The proposition does not include those who 
have never heard the Gospel in heathen lands. It does 
not include infants or idiots, who, though they may live 
in a land of Bibles, where the Gospel is faithfully preached, 
are, by the consent of all, intelledlually incompetent to 
believe or be baptized of their own free-will and accord. 
It does include all who hear. Hear, in Biblical cur- 
rency, includes both the opportunity and the mental abil- 
ity to comprehend the Gospel. Responsibility for the 
acceptance or rejedlion of the amnesty proclamation lies 
just here. Whatever, then, is declared in this proclama- 
tion to be a sinner's duty, in order to salvation or remis- 
sion of sins, I hold to be essential to that end. In the 
proclamation, remission of sins is made to depend upon 
faith, repentance, and baptism as equally conditions pre- 
cedent, and it is absolutely certain that no subsequent 



282 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



declaration of the Savior or the apostles can be found, 
making a distindion as to their respeftive importance^ and 
distributing them into essential and non-essential; but, on 
the contrary, it is certain that the last utterance of the 
Savior placed them in positive association with each other, 
and for the same purpose, and that the apostles, in their 
preaching under the commission, did, always and every- 
where, in any fair understanding of their discourses, as 
reported in the A6ls of Apostles, command their hearers 
to believe, repent, and be baptized, and that they never, 
in any address to sinners, or in any epistle to saints, gave 
the most distant intimation that any one of these three 
conditions could, under any circumstances, be dispensed 
with. 

In the light, then, of the above fads, definitions, and 
restridlions, I affirm ''that faith, repentance, and baptism 
are essential to salvation." The law of pardon, contained 
in the statement of the Savior to the apostles on sending 
them into all the world to preach the Gospel, is, in its 
own simple utterances, so plain and easy of comprehen- 
sion, that I am at a loss to conceive how a thoughtful 
mind could misapprehend its teachings. Faith and re- 
pentance are conceded by the Disciples, and by all Prot- 
estant se6i:s, to be essential to the salvation of all who 
come within the provisions of the proclamation. We and 
they agree that ''saved" or "damned" in the proclamation 
applies to those, and those onl)\ who have an opportunity 
to hear the Gospel, and who, in years and in reason, have 
the ability to understand it — to accept or rejed; it. The 
issue between them and us in the preaching of the condi- 
tions of pardon, as we respedively understand the Savior 
to command and to promise, is confined to the question, 
" Is baptism essential to salvation .^ " We affirm that it is. 



W. H. HOPSON. 283 



That the law of pardon enjoins on the sinner faith, re- 
pentance, and baptism, in order to remission of sins. That 
all this is required, and that nothing short of this will suf- 
fice. Permit me now to submit the proof, after the above 
lengthy, but necessary, introduction. 

I . The law of pardon, as above given, is the first, the 
last, and the only amnesty proclamation in the New Testa- 
ment offered to sinners by the authority of the Tord Jesus 
Christ, who is the only Savior of sinners, and to whom 
belongs ''all authority in heaven and upon the earth." 
We are therefore shut up to a compliance with its provis- 
ions as our only hope of pardon. And should any con- 
flid, probable or real, between the provisions of this law 
and the' antecedent statements of the Savior on the sub- 
jed of remission be found (we admit none), even then 
such collision would, in no sense, invalidate the above 
conclusion; for it is a well-established rule in legislation, 
both human and divine, that the enactment of a law, by 
competent authority, necessarily annuls and makes void 
all previous existing laws at variance with it. This rule, 
as applicable to the law of pardon enaded by the Savior, 
is most clearly substantiated by the very satisfadory ut- 
terance of the Apostle Paul in Hebrews vii: 12, "For 
the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity 
a change of the law." As the priesthood officiates almost 
exclusively with reference to an atonement and the remis- 
sion of sins, the change in the law must be in reference 
to the same things. As, then, in the very necessity and 
philosophy of things, the last law repeals all laws pre- 
viously made, not in harmony with it, it becomes, in this 
discussion, a matter of transcendent importance to ascer- 
tain the time when the above-mentioned law came into be- 
ing and force. If it be the last law on the subjed, then 



284 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



to it, and to it alone, must we look for the conditions of 
salvation. When was the commission given ? Not in the 
lifetime of the Savior upon the earth, when he was a suf- 
fering, sorrowing sojourner among the sons of men; not 
in the valedidory address to his Disciples just before ''his 
hour had come; " not amid the agonies of the Cross; but, 
after his death; after his resurredlion ; after he had been 
with the Apostles for forty days, ''speaking of the things 
pertaining to the kingdom of God," and "opening their 
understanding that they might understand the Scrip- 
tures," — after all this^ was the commission given. When, 
then, is still the question. The exa3i time must be deter- 
mined. Amid the solemn surroundings of the farewell 
scene, as the risen Savior turned to take the last fond look 
of the beloved twelve, who had been his companions and 
his pupils for nearly three years and a half; who, so oft, 
had sat at his feet and listened with a breathless silence 
and an enrapt attention to the words of eloquence and 
truth that fell from his lips of inspiration; and who, in 
wonder and astonishment, had witnessed the stupendous 
miracles performed by him in attestation that he was the 
Christ — then, -precisely then — amid the crushing sorrow of 
that parting hour, just as he was about to ascend out of 
their sight through the clouds into heaven, to be coro- 
nated King of kings and Lord of lords — he said to them : 
"Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every 
creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; 
he that believeth not shall be damned." 

II. What has just been shown to be the last law of par- 
don Jesus gave, is also xk\.^ first one he ever gave as Lord 
of all, under the New Testament dispensation. Before 
his resurrection, the Savior himself tells us that he spoke 
and adted in obedience to the command of his Father. 



W. H. HOPSON. 285 

'^Lo, T come to do thy will," was his valedi6lory in leav- 
ing the heavens to come to earth; and "Know you not 
that I must be about my Father's business/' is his first 
recorded declaration on the earth. Now the Crucified 
One is crowned King, clothed with supreme power, and 
the scepter of authority is passed over into his hand. 
Now, he makes laws in his own right as Sovereign of the 
heaven and the earth. The first exercise of authority un- 
der his reign as absolute monarch, was to enad the condi- 
tional amnesty above mentioned, and to commission the 
apostles to proclaim it to every creature, "among all na- 
tions, even unto the end of the world." This law, then, 
both the first and the last on the subjed:, is binding, in all 
its provisions, and as long as the Christian dispensation 
shall last. 

III. This law is certainly the only one in the New 
Testament that offers pardon, on any terms, to a Gentile 
as such — the first one, perhaps, in the Bible, since the elec- 
tion of Abraham, and the seledion of his posterity to be 
the children of God. Hitherto, a Gentile could only be 
in "covenant relationship" with God by becoming a Jew 
by adoption, through circumcision. The Savior, while a 
teacher on the earth, notwithstanding his great loving heart, 
confined his instrudion to the " lost sheep of the house 
of Israel." The Gentiles were never personally included, 
and, if he taught them or blessed them in performing upon 
them some miracle of healing, he did it under protest, 
saying: "It is not lawful to take the children's bread and 
give it unto dogs." When the Savior sent out the sev- 
enty and the twelve on their first mission, he positively re- 
stricted their preaching to the Jews. Their commission, 
as recorded in Matt, x, reads thus, so far as it pertains to 
the point before us : " Go not into the way of the Gen- 



2 86 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



tiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 
but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 
But now Jesus is King, and '^ the fullness of the time '' for 
the coming in of the Gentiles has come, and the blessed 
Savior gives the apostles a new, and enlarged, and final 
commission: ''Go into all the world, and preach the Gos- 
pel to every creature." Go to Jerusalem, to Samaria, and 
to the uttermost parts of the earth, and preach " the un- 
searchable riches of the Christ." Go wherever there is a 
mind to think, a heart to feel, a soul to save, and tell 
"the glad tidings of great joy to all people" — salvation 
from sin, its guilt and power, on the terms of this proc- 
lamation. Go, tell the people of every mountain and val- 
ley, every hill and dale, every continent and isle of the 
seas, of every tribe and tongue, that peace, pardon, and 
joy are offered to every baptized, penitent believer, through 
the atoning blood of the once crucified, but now coronated 
Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior of sinners. 

Dear friends, most, if not all of you, are Gentiles; and 
should you not rejoice that, at length, '' God has granted 
to the Gentiles repentance unto life;" and as this is, be- 
yond all doubt, the only law of pardon in which you have 
ever personally been included, is it not of paramount im- 
portance to you to embrace it? and will it not imperil 
your soul's salvation to negled it, in whole or in part ^ 

Thus far, in the investigation, we have found that the 
commission contains the first law of pardon enaded by 
the authority of the Christ; that it is the only one per- 
sonally addressed to Gentile sinners; that it is the last 
law given by Divine authority on the subjed of pardon, 
and, consequently, all previously existing ones are re- 
pealed; that its provisions, or terms, are faith, repentance, 
and baptism ; and that this law, neither more nor less, is 



W. H. HOPSON. 287 



to be proclaimed, In all time, among all nations, to every 
creature. It is evident, therefore, that the sinner's only 
hope of salvation, so far. as obedience is necessary at all, 
is to be found in full compliance with the provisions of 
this enadment. Jesus is the only atoning lamb, and, as 
such, if we despise and negledl him^ "there remaineth no 
other offering for sin ;" so, is this the only law of pardon to 
sinners, and, if they negled and despise /V, there remain- 
eth no other law by which they can be saved; for of Jesus 
alone can it be truthfully said: ''Thou hast the words of 
eternal life." May every sinner ponder well Peter's query : 
" To whom shall we go, if we leave thee V 

IV. The great commission contains the New Testament 
statutory law with reference to the pardon of rebel sinners. 
It is charaderistic of statutory law that all its provisions 
are expressed, that none are implied; that to it nothing is 
to be added, from it nothing to be taken away; that to the 
enjoyment of any blessing promised therein, upon certain 
conditions, full compliance therewith is invariably re- 
quired. Non-compliance with any one of them will work 
deprivation. For instance, the statutory law governing 
the eledive franchise in some of the States of the Ameri- 
can Union grants this political privilege to one who is 
*' white, free, a male, a citizen, and twenty-one years of 
age." The matter for thought is not, whether the law be 
good, bad, or indifferent. We might raise the questions: 
Have not women the right to vote as' well as men? the 
negro as well as the white man ^. a boy at eighteen years of 
age as well as one of twenty-one? The simple question 
however, is, ''What sayeth the law?'' Who has the right 
to vote? I answer: He, and he only, who has the five 
qualifications mentioned In the statute. Were they five 
times five, the argument would be the same. This law, 



288 THE LIVING PULPIT. 

when enaded, repeals all others inconsistent with it. It 
is absolutely binding, in its every provision, until it is 
itself repealed. The voter, under it, must have all the 
qualifications; the non-possession of any one of them 
will constitute disqualification. The subjedl of the law, 
having them all, can not be refused the privilege of 
voting; lacking one qualification, the privilege, according 
to the law, can not be allowed him, for the provisions 
are all equally essential. The application is easy. The 
Savior, in his wisdom and goodness — and all his ads 
are both wise and good — has seen fit to suspend the for- 
giveness of the sinner upoii the three conditions. Faith, 
Repentance, and Baptism. A full compliance is necessary 
to salvation, according to the statute governing the case. 
The willful negled: of a solitary condition will work 
deprivation of the blessing sought. These three condi- 
tions are in the law. The promise is made to depend 
upon full obedience to the three. They equally possess 
the element of a condition precedent, and, in this sense, are 
equally essential. He, therefore, who willfully neglefts 
compliance with any one of these simple and easy condi- 
tions, can not be saved. He who fully complies, is saved, 
if confidence can be placed in the declaratory promise of 
the Savior. Who dare doubt his word? who question his 
veracity? Let the sinner, then, joyfully accept the par- 
don on the offered terms. Let him tremble at the enor- 
mous wickedness of even the thought of "striking out" 
or "inserting" here. "What God hath joined together 
let not man put asunder," though spoken in reference to 
marriage, is, nevertheless, an enadment applying to every 
Divine institution, so far as the sacredness of the tie is con- 
cerned. The last command of Jesus, given in person, was 
a command to the apostles to offer salvation to the bap- 



W. H. HOPSON. 289 



tized penitent believer; his last command, by inspiration, 
is a command inhibiting us from ''adding to, or taking 
from, the words of this book." He, then, that strikes out 
faith or baptism from this law of pardon, contemns the 
authority of Christ, and repudiates the last command, he 
ever gave in person, and the last one he gave by the Holy 
Spirit; indeed, the very last Divine command given to 
man in the Bible. Can such a man be saved? If so, who 
need fear being lost.^ 

V. In discussing the law of pardon, it is both pertinent 
and appropriate now to inqruire. What is law — law itself? 
We have sound enough definitions of law as to physics, 
metaphysics, and ethics ; but these do not apply here. In 
human government, a law is defined to be a rule of human 
aftion. I accept this as corred, so far as it goes. But it 
is a definition informing us only of what law is as it relates 
to the party under law. What is it in reference to the Su- 
preme power that ordains it? I answer, it is will. Law, 
written or spoken, is an expression of sovereign will. A 
rule of adion, prescribed by legitimate authority, is a 
duty — an ad: due to the authority that rules and reigns. 
Law is, then, will^ in the direction of the lawgiver; duty^ 
as to the subject. This will, this duty, is expressed in a 
command, an enactment, or a law. A father commands 
his son, a master commands his servant, to do a certain 
thing; that command is law; that law expresses the will 
of the father or master, as the case may be, and the duty 
of the son or servant. The law of God is the will of God ; 
to do his will, when he commands, is our duty. If he 
commands us to do any thing, he wills us to do that thing. 
If he commands lis to refrain from a certain thing, he wills 
us to refrain. The New Testament dodlrine or enadments 
is called ''The perfed Law of Liberty." Perfed is that 
ID 



290 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



to which nothing requisite is wanting. The New Testa- 
ment reveals the whole will of God concerning us. Our 
every religious duty is laid down in it. In the revela- 
tion there is nothing wanting. To be a dutiful child of 
God one must do the will of God. In each and every 
command of God he finds that will expressed. " Not 
every one that saith unto me. Lord, Lord, shall enter into 
the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my 
Father, who is in heaven." Does not the Savior com- 
mand us to be baptized? Is not the giving of the com- 
mand an unmistakable declaration of his will ? Is not 
obedience to him our imperative duty? Baptism, then, is 
indispensably necessary to salvation. If not, then a man 
can be saved who refuses to obey the commandment of 
his Lord, who persistently and contemptuously negleds a 
known duty, who proudly slights and despises the clearly- 
expressed will of Jesus. The whole condud: and animus 
of such a man (ads, it is said, speak louder than words) 
is an emphatic utterance of — '' Savior, not thy will, but 
mine be done." Such a man can not be saved; his heart 
is full of rebellion; ''he is led captive by Sataii at his own 
will;" ''his sins are open beforehand, going to judgment." 
Argument, scriptural authority, the will of Jesus can not 
influence him. "Ephraim is joined to his idols, let him 
alone." 

VI. No law of pardon, enabled by Divine authority, 
in any religion. Patriarchal, Jewish, or Christian, can be 
found, which does not contain, as a constituent element, 
a positive institution. Baptism is the positive institu- 
tion, which occupies this place, in the law of pardon, un- 
der the Christian dispensation, and the only one among 
the positive enactments of the Savior that can sustain this 
important relation. Positive law is, among Christians, 



W. H. HOPSON. 291 

a stereotyped form of expression, including all command- 
ments that relate to ceremonies, forms, ordinances, etc. 
Theologians distribute the law of God into positive and 
moral. A better distribution would be, soberness; duty 
to one's self; righteousness, duty to your fellow man ; 
godliness, duty to God. But I accept the first, on account 
of its universality, and the familiarity of my readers with 
the thought. It is somewhat difficult to define and to dis- 
tinguish these with exadness. I will do my best to make 
the difference prominent and perceptible. A moral law is 
intuitively right, right in itself — grows out of our rela- 
tions to our fellow men; our obedience to it proves our 
love for each other; between it and its results there is emi- 
nent fitness, as of cause to effed. 

Positive law is right, because it is an expression of the 
will of the authority that enads it — grows out of our rela- 
tion to God; between it and the end to be gained there 
is the absence of appreciable adaptedness; obedience to it 
is proof of our loyalty and love, of our reverence and 
resped for the lawgiver. 

The non-essentiality of baptism to salvation is the 
outgrowth of the following infidel sentiment, common to 
the religious seds of the day: '' If a man obeys the moral 
law, it is somewhat a matter of indifference whether the 
positive law is obeyed or not." I objed to this. I most 
5itoutly protest. It is absurd, it is false, it is wicked. A 
moral law is duty to our fellow man. Positive law is 
duty to God. Are we prepared, then, to admit (and we 
must so admit if the above proposition be true), that in 
order to salvation, it is essential to discharge the duties 
growing out of our relations to man; but, it is indifferent 
PS to our salvation, whether we do, or do not, comply 
*vith the obligations growing out of our relation to God? 



292 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



As our relation to God is the higher relation, our duty to 
him is the higher duty. Adam in Eden was subjeded to 
the operation of two laws. He was the husband of Eve, 
must love her, and, in proof, treat her kindly. But as 
creature, he was subordinate to the creator, God — must 
love and honor him, and, in proof, abstain from the pro- 
hibited fruit. He obeyed the moral law in spirit and in 
letter, but he disobeyed the positive law, knowingly and 
willfully. The result we know. ''Original sin," that 
resulted in the expulsion of our first parents from their 
Edenic home, and from the presence of God, by which 
man was shorn of his glory, and which sin "brought death 
into the world, and all our woe," which led to the after- 
sorrow, sufferings and sacrifice of Jesus, was no more^ no 
lesSj than an a5i of disobedience to a positive law, committed, 
too, by one whose obedience to the moral law was faultless and 
perfe^f. "To obey God rather than man," is the doc- 
trine of both the Old Testament and the New. It is the 
duty of a man to do the whole will of God as far as "lieth 
in him" — his will, in moral obligations — his will, in posi- 
tive enadments. He must obey God in both. But, if 
in the history of a human life, it should occur, that a man 
Is commanded of God to perform a positive obedience, 
that diredly conflids with the moral law, instead of neg- 
ledling the positive, and complying with the moral, require- 
ment, duty demands that he negled: the moral, and com- 
ply with the positive, enadment. We feel, in our hearts, 
that such an occurrence, in the Divine legislation, must 
be rare. Such instance did occur in the history of Abra- 
ham. " Thou shall not kill" is a moral law, in strid har- 
mony with all the definitions of it given above. "Take 
thy son, thine only son Isaac, and sacrifice him to me," etc., 
is a positive law. "God tried Abraham." Positive in- 



W. H. HOPSON. 293 



stltutlons are tests of faith. God tries us by and through 
them. Shall we '* be found wanting ?" Abraham's trial was 
severe, but he ''staggered not in unbelief." The will of 
God was his will. He obeyed, and became the friend of 
God, and the father of the faithful. They who, like him, 
are full of faith, will not speak slightingly of the ordi- 
nances of the Lord, but will "walk in them, blameless." 

The proof of our faith in Chrisc, and of our loyalty to 
him, is found in an honest, cheerful, willing obedience to 
his positive institutions. They are proofs of faith, because, 
seeing no fitness between the thing done and the blessing 
promised, the obedient man, of necessity, "walks by faith, 
not by sight ;" and, from the same inability to appreciate 
adaptedness, it is a proof of loyalty, his only reason for 
obedience being : " The Lord commands ; I love and 
honor him; I will gladly, joyfully please him in doing his 
will." 

A man may obey God in every moral duty, (if such 
obedience be possible,) and give no proof by it to heaven 
or earth that he believes in God, or loves him. Who is 
it that loves God? Who is a Christian? We speak now 
of honest men, not of hypocrites. Seled your best man 
in the Church, and test him by the moral law, and you 
will never find the proof sought. What can you say of 
him? He is an honest man; pays his debts; does not 
lie, nor steal, nor murder ; does not blaspheme God, nor 
gamble, nor get drunk ; is kind to his aged parents, to his 
wife, his children ; is benevolent to the poor ; visits the 
sick, etc. Does that prove his faith in God? Can not all 
this be predicated of many men of your acquaintance who 
do not profess faith in Christ, or love to God ? It, then, 
proves too much; therefore, it proves nothing at all. But 
when you say of a man, he was baptized, he prays, he 



294 



THE LIVING PULPIT. 



observes the Lord's day, he regularly celebrates the Lord's 
Supper, you have entered the region of proper proof. 
These are positive institutions, and God's own ordained 
tests of the faith, love, and loyalty of his people. That, 
in all ages, they have been such tests, is easily shown 
from the Bible; and that parties were blessed or punished 
as they proved faithful or faithless when thus tested, is 
equally true. The throwing down of the walls of Jer- 
icho, by the blowing of ram's horns on the part of the 
people, and by marchings around the walls ; the healing 
of the Syrian leper, Naaman, by '' dipping himself seven 
times in the Jordan;" and the cure of the blind man '^ by 
washing in Bethesda," is each a superlative proof of 
faith in these obedient parties. To the sinner believing 
in Jesus, deeply convided of his guilt, mourning over 
his sins, and truly repenting of them, baptism is ordained 
to be precisely such a test. How could the things done 
produce the above-mentioned results ? How can bap- 
tism wash away sins ? " Stagger not in unbelief. Walk 
by faith, not by sight." Adam lost Eden and the favor 
of God, Saul his kingdom, and Uzzah his life, in dis- 
obeying the positive laws of God. In obedience to one, 
Abraham became the friend of God ; and Jesus, the sec- 
ond Adam, was acknowledged of the Father as '' my well- 
beloved Son." In conclusion, the truth seems to be this: 
We are commanded to live *' soberly, righteously, and 
godly." This command is addressed to the Church, but 
applies to the sinner in principle. Godliness or righteous- 
ness, in their broader meaning, include the whole of our 
religious obligation. In their narrowest meaning, as here, 
they include singly but a part. Soberness (as eating, 
drinking, etc.,) consists of that class of duties whose ope- 
ration is upon one's self. Righteousness — that class of 



W. H. HOPSON. 295 



duties that affefl our neighbor, as, ''Thou shalt not lie, 
bear false-witness," etc. Godliness — to those duties that 
grow alone out of our relation to God, baptism, Lord's 
Supper, etc. A man is sober because he loves and respeds 
himself; he is righteous, because he loves and respeds his 
neighbor; he is godly and is baptized, because he believes 
in the Christ, and loves and honors him, and would do 
whatever is well-pleasing to him. No man can prove to 
heaven or earth that he has faith in Christ, repentance 
toward God, or love to him in his heart, who knows that 
Jesus commands him to be baptized ; that the command 
has not been repealed, and is, therefore, still binding; who 
stubbornly and willfully negleds it. The sinner, like the 
Christian, must "show his faith by his works." His per- 
sistent negled of baptism is rebellious resistance to the 
authority of the Savior. Such a man, with such a stub- 
born will and unloving heart, can not be saved. 

I will now briefly notice some of the principal objedlions 
made to the design of baptism as advocated in this dis- 
course. 

"Admitting your argument, thus far, to be sound, 
and, in the main, I think it is, yet, in my judgment, prayer, 
and not baptism, is the positive institution ordained for 
remission of sins to the penitent believing sinner," says 
an objedor. It is strange, with the New Testament be- 
fore him, that any man should hold prayer to be the remit- 
ting ordinance to the sinner. It is a wide-spread error, 
and I deem it important to give it a thorough sifting. 

I. In the commission — proven in this discourse to be 
the only law of pardon to sinners under the Christian dis- 
pensation—baptism is named among the conditions of 
pardon, prayer is not. It has also been shown that it is 
a great sin "to add to or take from the Word of God." 



296 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Is it not, then, a '^presumptuous sin" in a man, instead 
of preaching " He that believes and is baptized shall be 
saved," to strike out is ''baptized," and insert "prays," 
preaching, that "He that believes and prays shall be 
saved?" 

2. In the Ads of Apostles we have the only authentic 
record on earth of the apostolic preaching under the au- 
thorization of the commission. Their discourses, given 
only in part, are still full enough to teach us their under- 
standing of the Savior's meaning in giving the law. As 
they were inspired expounders of the law, their interpreta- 
tion is infallible. Throughout their entire preaching, as 
recorded in the book of A6ls, they did invariably command 
their hearers, composed of sinners, to be baptized, and in 
not one instance did they command them to pray. 

3. We read, in this book, that "three thousand" were 
converted on the first day, "five thousand" the second, 
and afterward "great multitudes" are reported as being 
"added to the Lord," who daily "added to the Church 
the saved." No one will accuse me of exaggeration, when 
I state the number of the converted, reported as the result 
of the preaching from Jerusalem to Rome, at one hundred 
thousand souls. In the history of these numerous con- 
versions, every one of them was commanded to be bap- 
tized, and not one commanded " to pray, or be prayed 
for;" and yet I must be gravely told that "baptism is a 
non-essential, and that prayer is the heaven-ordained con- 
dition of remission to the penitent believer." 

4. In the history, also, it is found that the only man 
who was both commanded to pray, and who asked them 
to pray for him, was a baptized believer, Simon Magus. 
But, says the objedor: "Was not Paul commanded to ' be 
baptized and wash away his sins, calling on the name of 



W. H. HOPSON. 



^97 



the Lord,' and is not 'calling on the name of the Lord 
equivalent to prayer?" I reply: Saul had been very 
wicked; had denied and blasphemed the Christ; had been 
a great persecutor of his disciples ; that it was the duty of 
all believers in the Christ to confess him with the mouth 
before men. The good confession was omitted in no case. 
In Saul's case it was pre-eminently a duty. "Calling on 
the name of the Lord," with him, was the recognition of 
the authority of Jesus, the confessing him to be the Christ. 
But, grant that prayer is commanded in this instance, 
what of it.f* It does not invalidate baptism; it does not 
substitute prayer for it, as you assert, but simply associates 
prayer with the baptism. This extent hath the admission, 
no more. What does it teach, if prayer be meant? That 
the penitent believer is to be baptized, and wash away 
his sins, praying, at the time and in the very a5i of baptism^ 
to the Lord, that, "in coming to his holy baptism," he 
" may receive the remission of sins." But the admis- 
sion was made to show you that, being made, it will not 
avail you, as you thought. While, then, a sinner is not 
commanded to pray; while it is nowhere spoken of as a term 
of pardon to him ; while it can not be regarded as his duty; 
still, an unpardoned man, going forward believingly, pen- 
itently, lovingly in the pathway of obedience that leads to 
forgiveness by the Divine promise, would, as the legiti- 
mate effed of his faith, his deep sorrow for sin, and con- 
vidion of his great guilt, offer up from his heart the silent 
prayer, if not with his lips the spoken one: "Lord, have 
mercy on me, a sinner ; and grant that, as my body is washed 
in water, my soul may be washed from sin in thine own 
blood." Such a prayer, at such a time, as the outgush of 
a believing, penitent soul, I do not obje6l to. I rather like 
it. I think it beautiful and appropriate. But when sub- 



•298 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



stituted for a Divine command; when these agonizing utter- 
ances of a human spirit under convidion of sin are relied 
on as terms of pardon — holding, as I do, the Divine author- 
ity pledged to that end — and when, as is always the case, 
the preacher and the mourning sinner are knowingly treat- 
ing baptism with contempt, and regarding it as a non- 
essential, then, from the very depth of an honest heart, I 
loathe, I hate the do6lrine and the pra6lice, and my pro- 
foundest sympathies are stirred in behalf of the deluded 
mourners whose '^ blind guides" are leading them ''into 
the ditch," and out of which, I fear, they will never come. 

5. The truth is, baptism and prayer are positive institu- 
tions, ordained alike for remission of sins; baptism to the 
sinner, prayer to the Christian. To believers not in the 
Church, Peter says : " Repent, and be baptized for re- 
mission of sins." To the baptized believer, Simon the 
magician, who sinned in the Church, the same apostle said: 
" Repent and pray." Guided by the apostle, we can not 
err. 

In final statement on the subjed of prayer, I beg leave 
to say, that a sinner (by which is meant an unpardoned 
man, who has never been a member of the Church), as 
such, is nowhere commanded in the Bible to pray for the 
remission of his sins, or for any other purpose ; and that 
every soul that was ever commanded or encouraged to 
pray, in the New Testament, by the Savior or the apostles, 
was at the time either a member of the Church of God 
under the Jewish dispensation, or of the Church of Christ 
under the Christian dispensation. 

But says another objedor: ''In the commission, it is 
said that 'he that believeth not shall be damned;* and, if 
baptism is essential, it seems to me it ought to have 
read: ' He that believeth not, and is not baptized, shall be 



W. H. HOPSON. 



299 



damned.' " In your own mind, write out the commission, 
adding your amendment. Then salvation is left where we 
found it, dependent upon two conditions; but damnation, 
instead of being suspended on one ad: of disobedience, can 
now only be executed upon two ads of disobedience. Then^ 
he could be damned if he believed not; now^ he can not. 
Before he can be condemned under the improved commis- 
sion, he must also be unbaptized. To be damned, he must 
be a non-believer, and unbaptized. A baptized unbeliever 
and an unbaptized believer, having obeyed one command 
and disobeyed the other, could, according to this commis- 
sion, be neither saved nor damned. 

You have altogether mistaken the value of the omission 
of baptism from the last clause of the commission. The 
meaning of the commission — in the light of itself, of the 
New Testament, and of common sense — is, that the be- 
liever shall have remission of sins in being baptized; but 
that the unbeliever will be damned, whether baptized or 
not baptized. 

Dear hearer, we can not alter that law of pardon. Were 
we to attempt it, in some new translation, we would recoil 
at the unmitigated wickedness of the ad:. What we dare 
not print in a newly-published Bible we are getting out, 
it is both a bold and wicked ad: to teach. Let us try, for 
experiment's sake, to alter it. We will employ the word 
"not" as the chief element of alteration. We can alter 
it in several ways. 

He that believeth, and is not baptized, shall be saved. 

He that believeth not^ and is baptized, shall be saved. 

He that believeth, and is baptized, shall not be saved. 

No lover of the blessed Jesus would consent to pervert 
God's holy word. Hence, no honest man could sandion 
any one of these alterations. Then let the commission 



300 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



stand. Touch not a single part — mar not, by human ad- 
dition, the fair proportions of the Savior's finished work. 
'' Handle not the Word of God deceitfully;" "diminish 
not a word ;" ''^ declare the whole counsel of God." Let 
us preach the commission fully, faithfully, and forever. 

'^ But will I be damned if I am not baptized ?" Cer- 
tainly. Why not? It is the blood of Christ that really 
washes away the guilt of sin. We come to the blood 
'^into the death" of Christ, through faith and repentance, 
and in baptism. You believe and repent, but say baptism 
is a non-essential, and, therefore, will not obey it ; that is, 
you will do nothing for the love of Jesus but just so much 
and no more as is necessary to " escape the damnation of 
hell." Why should you be damned if you do not believe, 
and not damned if you are not baptized ? Why is faith 
essential to salvation, and baptism not? Is faith essen- 
tial? Yes. Why? Is there any intrinsic merit or saving 
efficacy in faith ? None. Is Jesus under any obligation 
to you because you believe ? No. Is there any merit in 
faith and repentance combined ? None. Add baptism, 
and is there any? None. The efficacy is in the grace of 
God, and the blood of Jesus. Of three things which 
equally are void of merit, how can two of themi be essen- 
tial, and the other not ? Of three nonentities, can you 
make two entities, and have a nonentity left? Of three 
nothings can you make tv/o of them something, and the 
remaining one still nothing ? Why is faith essential ? 
Jesus suspends the pardon of the sinner on it. He com- 
mands him to believe, but he commands him to be bap- 
tized also ; and he gave this command at the same time, 
under the same circumstances, in the same sentence, to 
be preached to the same people — for the same purpose 
as he gave the command to believe. If one is essential, 



W. H. HOPSON. 301 



so is the other. If one is non-essential, so is the other. 
The believer will be pardoned if he will be baptized. The 
baptized man will be pardoned if he be a believer. There 
can be no other meaning to the mandatory promise, '' He 
that believeth, and is baptized, shall be saved." "Believe," 
here used in its broader meaning, includes repentance. 
The baptized, penitent believer, according to the Savior's 
promise, will receive the remission of sins. No other 
man will. I believe" and teach that, according to the law 
of the Lord in the New Testament, a man must believe 
with all his heart in the Divine Redeemer; must deeply, 
sorrowfully, truly repent of his sins against God and the 
Christ, and must be baptized, in the name of the Lord 
Jesus, into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Spirit, in order to the pardon of his past sins. 
I further believe and teach, that no one will obtain an in- 
heritance among the redeemed and sanctified in heaven 
who willfully negledls baptism, knowing it to be a com- 
mandment of the Lord Jesus. Is it not strange, passing 
strange, that the Protestant parties in the land consider 
the acknowledgment of the Trinity an essential element of 
an orthodox faith, and an essential qualification for admis- 
sion into an orthodox Church ; yet will treat as a matter 
of inferior moment (speaking of it as a non-essential) a com- 
mandment of Jesus the Christ, which is a clear revelation 
of his will concerning our duty, and the only one in all 
the Bible commanded to be done in or into the names of 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? But such is, neverthe- 
less, the fa6t, and it furnishes an additional reason why we 
should ''contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to 
the saints." 




t/ 




^^-t^^^^ 






B. W UajToU &■■ C° PuJiTis-hera .Cuii'Jimati, 



WILLIAM KIMBROUGH PENDLETON. 



TT7ILLIAM KIMBROUGH PENDLETON was born in Louisa 
^ ^ County, Virginia, September 8, 1817. He is of English descent, 
and his ancestors, both paternal and,maternal, have, from the earliest his- 
tory of this country, occupied distinguished positions in the state and the 
church. His mother was brought up under Episcopal influence, but his 
father. Colonel Edmund Pendleton, was not a member of any church until 
William was about sixteen years of age, when he became a reader of the 
"Christian Baptist" and "Millennial Harbinger," and, after a full and free 
investigation of the plea presented by the advocates of primitive Chris- 
tianity, he determined to be immersed "for the remission of sins." He 
soon became an adlive and earnest worker in the cause of Christ, and, 
through his influence, a church was established in his neighborhood, which 
was the first Disciples' church in that part of Virginia, and was the nucleus 
of the Mount Gilboa Church, which afterward became celebrated for being 
the germ from which sprung many other congregations. The "peculiar 
doftrines " which the father advocated met with very determined opposi- 
tion from the various religious sefts of the neighborhood. Hence, every 
position of the new movement was subjedled to the severest investigation; 
and, as his father's house was the center of most of these discussions, Wil- 
liam had, thus early, every opportunity to become thoroughly acquainted 
with the principles of the Reformation. 

From his earliest boyhood his education was carefully provided for. 
After attending, for several years, the best schools in that part of the State, 
he entered the University of Virginia, where, besides the academical course, 
he studied the law two years, and was licensed to praftice. During most of 
this time he had been a regular reader of the " Christian Baptist " and " Mil- 
lennial Harbinger," and a constant and earnest student of the Word of God. 
He also adled as amanuensis for his father in conducing some epistolary dis- 
cussions with a Baptist preacher and others; heard Elder S. Higgason and 
James Bagley preach for years, besides hearing occasionally many of the 
most distinguished preachers among the Disciples; was constantly in com- 
pany with Disciples at his father's house; and, above all, and before all, was 

C303) 



304 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



carefully trained from his infancy by a pious mother — "a woman possess- 
ing the gentleness and mildness of a child, combined with the firmness and 
courage of a Spartan mother — extremely modest and unobtrusive, yet, when 
drawn into conversation, showing great depth of thought and clearness of 
perception, and a mind well stored with information." Such was the char- 
acter of the religious influences brought to bear upon him, and, under these, 
having come to a full understanding of his duty, he was, in June, 1 840, 
immersed by Alexander Campbell, at the Mount Gilboa Church, Louisa 
County, Virginia, being, at the time, in the twenty-third year of his age. 
In the fall of 1840, he was married to Lavinia M., daughter of Alex- 
ander Campbell, a lady of brilliant intelleft and beautiful Christian char- 
after, who died in the spring of 1846. 

He was appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy in Bethany College, 
in May, 1 841, (the year the college was founded,) and has been connedled 
with it ever since as Professor, and, much of the time, as Vice-President, 
and now as President. In 1844 he was united to the editorial corps of 
the " Millennial Harbinger," and has continued in that relation ever since, 
being at this time its proprietor and senior editor. 

In August, 18 j.8, he was again married — this time to Clarinda, also a 
daughter of Alexander Campbell. Mr. Campbell's celebrated letters 
from Europe were addressed to this daughter. She was greatly beloved 
by all who knew her, and was thoroughly devoted to the cause of Christ. 
She died in January, 1851, rich in good works, and ''meet to be a par- 
taker of the inheritance of the saints in light." In the autumn of 1855, 
he was again married — to Catherine- H., daughter of Judge Leceister 
King, of Warren, Trumbull County, Ohio. 

For several years previous to the death of Mr. Campbell, Professor Pen- 
dleton discharged the duties of President of Bethany College, and, on the 
death of Mr. Campbell, was unanimously eledled by the curators to fill 
the place so long and ably occupied by his father-in-law. 

President Pendleton is five feet eight and a half inches high, and weighs 
about one hundred and fifty pounds. His nervous system predominates 
over both the muscular and vital ; hence, he is capable of great intelleftual 
force, but has rather a feeble physical organization. As a speaker, he is 
chaste, logical, and impressive, but, on account of his profession, has never 
had sufficient opportunities for thoroughly testing his powers before the 
people. As a writer, he stands unquestionably without a superior in the 
ranks of the Disciples. But it is as the dignified, courteous, polished. 
Christian gentleman that you delight to know him. And, to understand 
what we mean by this, you must know him, for no description can ever da 
him justice. 



THE MINISTRY OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 



BY W. K. PENDLETON. 



" Nevertheless, I tell you the truth ; it is expedient for you that I go 
away : for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; but 
if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will 
reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment : of sin, 
because they believe not on me; of righteousness, because I go to my 
Father, and ye see me no more ; of judgment, because the prince of this 
world is judged." — ^John xvi : 7-1 1. 

WHEN the Savior said to his apostles, ''It is ex- 
pedient for you that I go away," it must have been 
to them a declaration hard to understand. His presence had 
been so necessary to their confidence, and so full of comfort 
and of power, that they could not regard a separation with 
less than the gloomiest forebodings. They had hung upon 
his words with the fond and newly-awakened hopes of 
eternal life; they had forsaken all to follow him; and now, 
to be left alone, what could it seem but the saddest and 
darkest disappointment? When ''many of his disciples 
went back, and walked no more with him," and he had 
asked them, with such pathetic tenderness, "Will ye also 
go away?" Peter, the prompt and impulsive Peter, had 
answered, " Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the 
words of eternal life." There was no light, no strength, 
no hope to them but in Christ, and how could it be expe- 

20 (305) 



3o6 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



dient for them that he should go away? It was a saying 
hard to be understood, requiring, in fa6l, a fuller revela- 
tion of the Divine economy of redemption than he had 
yet made to them. 

Hitherto, the central power of this economy had been 
in his sensible person, Martha, weeping over the death of 
Lazarus, says : " Lord, if thou hadst been here^ my 
brother had not died.'' Before Jairus's daughter is raised, 
Jesus goes to the house of her parents, stands over the 
bier, takes her by the hand, and says, " Daughter, arise." 

The power of Christ to help was centered in his visible^ 
sensible person^ and that was limited to time 2ind. place. True, 
in sending out the seventy^ and healing the centurian's serv- 
ant, we have instances of power exerted where he was not 
personally present. But even in these cases there was 
dired: connexion with his person by some one before the 
influence was imparted. Evidently these sensuous limi- 
tations were not suited to the omnipresent wants of a 
spiritual kingdom. An omnipresent agent is needed for 
a universal kingdom. A spirit-presence must take the 
place of a sense-presence. The heart must be filled where 
the eye can not see ; and Jesus must go away, that the 
Paraclete^ the advocate and comforter, may come. Let 
us consider the difference. Suppose Jesus to-day at Je- 
rusalem, and seated on the throne of David, in the person 
he wore when he stood, eighteen centuries ago, arraigned 
as a criminal before the bar of Pilate. Around the throne 
there might be the effulgence of glory, and in his presence 
fullness of joy. But what would he be to us, in this far 
distant land of the West? Between him and our hearts 
an ocean-barrier rolls ; the radiance of his countenance 
beams not upon us, and his words come to us through the 
telegraph, chilled by the distance and void of the vital 



W. K. PENDLETON. 3^7 



breath of the King. We can not see him, or hear him. 
Like Moses, wrapped in the misty shroud of Mount Sinai, 
he is hidden from our view. What would be left us but, 
like the children of Israel, to turn to our own devices, and 
cry : " Up, make us gods which shall go before us." Peter 
returns to his nets, and the rest go with him. 

On the other hand, enthrone Jesus in heaven, invest 
him with all power, and fill the earth with the presence of 
the Spirit — the Paraclete — the official advocate and com- 
forting minister of his reign. Here is a power wide as 
the domain of his truth, breathing with ever-present in- 
fluence through words of eternal life ; working with the 
same energy that. brooded over the primitive chaos, and 
molding into order, and form, and beauty, and conscious 
blessedness, the new spirit-world, a glorious regeneration 
of the wreck of the old. 

Doubtless the apostles felt disconsolate when the Savior 
said, "1 go away;'' but when, on the day of Pentecost, 
the Spirit came, and they were baptized in its power, and 
began to speak with tongues, and felt the mighty energy 
of truth burning for utterance, and saw its two-edged 
sharpness piercing the hearts of their enemies, they could 
say: *' We are not left comfortless ; the blessed Jesus has 
indeed gone away; but, being by the right hand of God 
exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of 
the Holy Spirit, he hath shed forth this which ye now see 
and hear." Truly did he say, '' It is expedient for you 
that I go away," because, as he promised, he hath sent the 
Comforter. 

Thus, in one passage, the Savior very formally an- 
nounces his purpose to devolve the advocacy of his cause 
upon the Holy Spirit, to replace his personal presence by 
the ministration of the Paraclete, and declares it to be ex- 



3^8 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



pedlent for his disciples that he should do so. There is 
to be a new administration of affairs, and a new ministry. 
Let us consider — 

I. The Minister. 

II. To WHOM HE IS SENT. 

III. What is his work. 

I. The Minister. 

He is called the Paraclete, The term, in its fullness, 
means a comforting helper. It is a name by which the 
Savior calls the Holy Spirit. (John xiv: 26.) In our 
passage he is presented to us as the successor of Christ in 
the administration of the economy of redemption. He 
proceedeth from the Father, and is sent by the Son. (John 
XV : 26.) He is, therefore, a distind: manifestation of 
God. For the want of a better term, we call him a per- 
sofij a word which very inadequately represents the idea of 
a spiritual essence. But the New Testament leaves no 
ambiguity as to the threefold manifestation of God, in 
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and as the word person has 
been used by the common version to translate both the 
prosopon (jrpocFcoTrop'^ of Christ, (2 Cor. ii : 10,) and the 
hupostasis {pTzoazaat^^ of the Father, (Heb. i : 3,) we are 
warranted in applying the same term also to that mani- 
festation of God, which is called, in the Scriptures, the 
Holy Spirit. That the Holy Spirit is a distind: personal 
manifestation of God is evident : 

First ^ from the fad that he is designated, like the Father 
and the Son, by appropriate names. He is called '' the 
Paraclete," and "the Holy Spirit;" and the latter desig- 
nation is expressly given as his name: "Baptizing them 
into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Spirit." (Matt, xxviii : 19.) The expression is lit- 



W. K. PENDLETON. 309 



eral, and the distindness of the three marked by a definite- 
ness that could not be more sharply indicated by language. 
Our baptism brings us equally into relation to the three 
as persons^ and presents the three to us, at the same time, 
as also one in nature. 

Second. From the fad that both intelligence and determin- 
ing will are ascribed to him. '' He is a Spirit of wisdom, 
of understanding, of counsel, and knowledge." (Isa. xi: 2.) 
"He searcheth all things, even the deep things of God." 
(i Cor. ii : 10.) He is the^author of spiritual gifts; and 
the apostle declares that, in distributing these, " he di- 
vides to every man as he will." (i Cor. xii : 11.) But 
what can thus ad: with intelligence and free choice but a 
distind person? These are not isolated passages, but the 
general drift of revelation, concerning the Holy Spirit, is 
to the same effed. 

T^hird. Not only has he intelligence and free choice, but 
also accompanying power. He descends on the day of 
Pentecost, as a mighty rushing wind; he imparts the 
power of working miracles to the apostles, just as Christ 
had done ; he raises up Christ from the dead ; he smites 
the hypocrites Ananias and Sapphira with death in the in- 
stant of their falsehood; and many other marvelous works 
are ascribed to him, which present him constantly before 
us, in the boldest and most striking aspects of personal 
grandeur and power. 

Fourth. Our passage speaks of him as a person, as one 
that can come^ that may be sent^ that can glorify the Son, 
and guide the disciples into all, or the whole truth. " He 
shall take of mine," says the Savior, " and show it unto 
you." (John xvi: 15.) Can an agent like this be a mere 
influence ? Can language like this be applicable to merely 
impersonal means, having no distind energy of their own. 



3IO THE LIVING PULPIT. 



and moving simply as they are moved by some other 
power ? Surely words are meaningless, and all reality 
must be banished from the Scriptures, if these expressions 
are simply metaphors, shadows of shades, misty utterances 
about unknown phantoms, that vanish from our view when 
we attempt to fix them in thought, or give them, in our 
faith, " a local habitation and a name." 

Fifth. Because, in the new dispensation, he is set forth 
as the promised personal manifestation of God. In Lev- 
iticus xxvi: 11,12, God, speaking absolutely, says: ''I will 
set my tabernacle among you, and will be your God, and 
ye shall be my people." But Paul, in 2 Cor. vi : i6, in- 
terprets this as a promise^ and finds its fulfillment in the 
adual bestowal of the Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts 
of Christians. He says : " Ye are the temple of the liv- 
ing God ; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk 
among them." This he accomplishes in the person of 
the Holy Spirit. " Know ye not, that ye are the temple 
of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? for the 
temple of God are ye." While, then, the Holy Spirit is 
personally distind, he is, in nature, God; so that, when he 
fills the temple of the human heart, it is truly God who 
dwells in it. 

Thus is this minister of the newreign set before us ; by 
his official and his essential name ; by his omniscient in- 
telligence and self-determining will ; by his omnipotent 
power ; by his glorious and official procession from the 
Father and the Son, and by his representative dignity as 
the personal manifestation of God in the new and spiritual 
kingdom. By all these, and many other tokens, he comes 
to us, our Comforter, Helper, Friend. He introduces him- 
self wondrously to us in the sublime and overpowering 
scenes of Pentecost, and opens up the new empire over 



W. K. PENDLETON. 311 



the hearts of men, with a grand exhibition of his power 
to perform the work for which he is sent. Let us inquire; 

II. To WHOM IS HE SENT. 

This question need not detain us long; but it is im- 
portant, in approaching it, to notice the different econo- 
mies or dispensations of the Father, the Son, and the 
Holy Spirit. Before the fall, man enjoyed the full mani- 
festation of God. The unveiled Majesty stood before 
him in the garden. He walked with God, as a son with 
a father. Paradise was garnished for him with '' herb, 
tree, fruit, and flower, glistening with dew." 

" Gentle gales. 
Fanning their odoriferous wings, dispense 
Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole 
Their balmy spoils." 

His heart is open to God in all pure worship. He 
moves, a peer among the cherubim, and mingles his praises 
with theirs. The will of God thrills through his nature 
as his vital breath. He trembles with fullness of joy. 
*'God is all in all" — ''Omnipotent, immutable, immor- 
tal. Infinite, eternal King." This is the dispensation of 
the Father. Man is without sin, and God is manifested 
only as life, light, and love. 

The entrance of sin breaks this harmony. Man is ban- 
ished from the garden of Eden. The dispensation of love 
gives place to the dispensation of law. Remedial grace 
holds the world in quarantine. God operates afar off 
through his Son. He does not utterly abandon us, but 
out of the thick darkness he speaks in tones of thunder, 
and, at long intervals, by the "angel of the presence." 
The promised seed of the woman even now has his "de- 



312 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



lights with the sons of men/' (Prov. viii: 31.) He ap 
pears to Abraham, and speaks with Moses in the Mount of 
Sinai, (A6ls vii: 38,) adding the law, till he should come 
in full accomplishment of the promise. (Gal. iii: 19.) Yet 
when, in the fullness of time, he is manifested in the flesh, 
his operation is transient, and mostly limited to his per- 
sonal presence. Even his apostles do not comprehend 
him. He speaks in parables, and holds the truth under a 
veil. Until sin is atoned for, and his work of redemption 
done, there can be no closer or more intimate relation to 
the sinner. God and man must be reconciled before the 
lost fellowship of Eden can be restored. This is his work, 
and it leads him by the gate of death. He must glorify 
humanity in his own person before he can sandify it with 
his Holy Spirit. This is the remedial dispensation — the 
dispensation of the Son. 

Not until it v^2iS, finished coxxldi the Holy Spirit be given. 
True the Spirit, as of the divine essence, appears in every 
dispensation as an inseparable, co-operating divine agent. 
As the Savior said: "The Father worketh hitherto and 
I work;" and, '* Without the Father I can do nothing." 
So it is equally true that there is also an ever-present co- 
operation of the Spirit. But it is an operation, ab extra, 
from without. The glorification of the Son opens up a new 
era — the dispensation or economy of the Holy Spirit — -a 
manifestation of the Spirit fuller and more permanent and 
intimate than had ever been enjoyed before. This could 
not be, our passage expressly declares, until Christ should 
go away. "If I go not away, the Paraclete will not come 
unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." 
The disciples had, doubtless, felt the influence of the Spirit 
in looking upon the radiant countenance, and listening 
^o the burning words of Jesus, and when he breathed on 



W. K. PENDLETON. 313 



them, and said unto them: Receive ye the Holy Spirit, 
(John XX : 22,) the action and the word must have thrilled 
them with a sense of divine ecstacy and power. But he 
is not yet given, as the fountain of an overflowing river 
of living water, in the heart of the believer, because that 
Jesus is not yet glorified. (John vii: 38, 39.) The disci- 
ples must yet tarry, sorrowful it may be, but yet in hope, 
tarry at Jerusalem till this new power — the Comforting 
Advocate — shall come. (Luke xxiv: 49.) 

He had brooded over chaos, the quickening power in 
creation; striven with the antediluvians in their rebellion 
against the will of God; cheered with bright and hopeful 
visions the fainting hearts of the patriarchs, and other im- 
mortal heroes of God; opened long vistas down through 
the mysterious future to the wondering eyes of the proph- 
ets, and clothed, in rosy light, the dawning day of the good 
things to come; thrilled the souls of poets with sweet in- 
spirations and power to strike the sublimest chords of 
song; cherished and kept alive, in pure minds, the death- 
less memories of God, and *'the pure empyrean where he 
sits high-throned above all height;" stirred in brooding 
hearts immortal longings for the return of the golden days 
of Eden, long dimmed in sinful night; and in all, and 
through all the wise and wondrous providence of God, 
moved and worked, one with the Father and the Son, but 
yet, not as a distind dweller in the temple of humanity, 
an abiding guest in the heart of the fallen, a comforting 
helper to the orphaned exile from the Father's face. 

This is a manifestation of the Spirit long promised and 
yet to come, and its accomplishment brings us to the ever 
memorable Pentecost; to the scene in the upper chamber, 
where the disciples are waiting ; to the miracles of tongues ; 
to the sermon of Peter, and the conversion of the three 



314 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



thousand in a day. The period of the last days is now 
fully come, and the Spirit is poured out in all fullness and 
power. Jesus has been glorified. Humanity has been 
lifted up in his victory, and fitted for the indwelling of 
the Spirit. He may now enter the long-closed temple of 
the human heart, now reconciled to the Father, through 
the death of the Son, and take up his abode there to dwell 
with it forever. 

Returning to our question : 'T^o whom is he sent ? we find 
the answer easy and intelligible. Our passage says : " I 
will send him unto you" — you, my disciples. Again: 
" This spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on 
him should receive." (John vii : 39.) Again: ''I will 
pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, 
that he may abide with you forever ; even the Spirit of 
Truth ; whom the world can not receive, because it seeth 
him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he 
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." (John xiv : 16, 
17.) Yet again, on the day of Pentecost, Peter, speak- 
ing as he was moved by this same Spirit, says : " Repent, 
and be baptized, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 
Spirit." (Ads ii : 38.) It is the baptized, penitent be- 
liever, then, to whom the Holy Spirit is sent ; and to him, 
in contrast with the unconverted, the impenitent, the un- 
baptized '^ world" to whom he is not sent. And the 
reason of this is plain. As his coming is restrained 
till Jesus shall go away, and his ministry withheld till 
humanity is first glorified in the person of Christ, so it is 
incompatible with the dignity and purity of the Divine 
economy that the Holy Spirit should be sent to dwell in 
a heart that had not, by faith, received Christ, and washed 
in the fountain of his blood, opened for sin and unclean- 
ness. (Zech. xiii : i.) The mission of Christ ends with 



W. K. PENDLETON. 315 



his fitting humanity, by faith in him, for the reception of 
the Spirit. The mission of the Spirit commences by his 
taking up his abode in the temple thus prepared for his 
entrance. 

III. What is his work? 

This is twofold. First^ in the heart of the believers, 
leading them to glorify Jesus, by reproducing in them his 
rife; and second^ through the disciples, upon the world. 

In these twofold operations there is this difference : in 
the^frj/, he dwells in and works with the believers. In 
the apostolic age he imparts spiritual gifts to them ; then 
and always, he dwells in the heart of the disciples to help 
their infirmities, (Rom. viii : 26,) and work in them both 
to will and to do of his good pleasure (Phil, ii; 13). In 
the second^ he operates through the disciples upon the world. 
" The world^^ as such, can not receive him. Upon them 
he works from without, producing faith, and preparing 
them, by the reception of Christ, to become fit temples 
for his entrance as a comforting guest. And this is the 
great work to which our passage especially points our 
attention. It is what the Savior emphatically declares the 
Paraclete shall do when he comes. '' He shall convince 
or reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of 
judgment." These are the grand themes of the great 
advocate. Let us consider them. 

I. He shall reprove the world of sin. What is the method 
of the Holy Spirit in working convidion in the hearts of 
men? How shall he reprove the world of sin? Shall he 
descant upon the dodrine of the fall ; weave fine metaphy- 
sical webs about human depravity; decide whether it is 
total or partial ; discuss the ethics of transmitted guilt ; 
draw nice distindlions between original and hereditary sin; 



3l6 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



turn all our misfortune and woe over to Adam; or, look- 
ing into our own actions, condemn us by the special crimes 
of our own personal life ? This is man's method— the 
bungling diagnosis of our spiritual dodors. Into what a 
maze of controversy it leads us, and how it turns the 
heart away from Christ, and the great question which the 
Holy Spirit raises with the world ! ''Shall I be damned 
because my ancestor^ six thousand years ago, imprudently 
ate of an apple?" says one; and he stands excusing himself 
on the ethics of this question till he is lost. " I live in all 
good conscience," says another; ''I defraud no one, I give 
to the poor, and ' with gentle heart worship nature in 
hill and valley,' cherishing 

** 'A sense sublime 
Of something far more deeply interfused. 
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns. 
And the round ocean and the living air; 
A motion and a Spirit, that impels 
All thinking things, all objedts of all thought. 
And rolls through all things.' 

" Shall I, thus elevated in soul, and wrapped in Divine 
spheres of reason, be ranked with the vulgar herd that 
grovel in the dust ? What is my crime ? What stain 
spots the robe of my righteousness ?" And thus, self- 
fascinated, he puts aside the great question of the Holy 
Spirit, and goes to the judgment without Christ. Amaz- 
ing folly ! These, O man, are not the questions which 
the Holy Spirit raises with you, by which he reproves you 
of sin. 

He asks you, ''What think you of Christ?" He re- 
proves you of sin, not because of Adam's sin; not because 
you stand, a shattered column from the ruin of Paradise; 
but because, so standing, marred and defaced by sin, you 



W. K. PENDLETON. 317 



refuse his offered help to restore you — to renew in you the 
effaced countenance of the Father, and fill your heart again 
with the blessed fellowship of his Spirit. " He shall con- 
vince the world of sin, because they believe not on him/' 
The sin that is brought home to us, to each of us, to you 
and to me, is our own sin — not another's. He says to us: 
" Look around upon the world's ruin; look within, at the 
withered glory of the soul; see the work of the enemy; 
behold, over it my love, like a Niobe of nations, weeping, 
stoops to regenerate it. Through agony and blood I have 
travailed to victory. The work is done. Come and share 
it with me." Who will refuse? What can make us re- 
fuse but the love of sin — the sin that caused his death? 
Is not this a simple criterion? Christ finds us ruined 
Dy sin — held under its bondage; he comes to redeem us, 
suffers for us, conquers for us, and offers us the fruit of 
his victory freely — without money, and without price. 
''What the law could not do, in that it was weak through 
the flesh, God sending his own Son, in the likeness of sin- 
ful flesh, and, by a sacrifice for sin, condemned sin in the 
flesh." (Rom. viii: 3.) And now to refuse him as our sin- 
offering, what is it but to cleave to the sin which he has 
condemned? And is not this sin in us? Adam, tempted, 
and without experience of the damning guilt of sin, yielded 
to the fatal fascination. He found himself naked, stripped 
of the glory that had covered him as a mantle, and shrank, 
abashed at his own deformity, from the purity and beauty 
of Paradise. He is cast out, a banished exile from the 
presence of the Father, but with the promise of deliver- 
ance. ''The seed of the woman shall yet bruise the ser- 
pent's head." He sold the life of Eden for the knowl- 
edge of good and evil, and received the penalty — death. 
In the fullness of time, the promised seed comes. The 



31 8 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



deliverance is achieved. The Holy Spirit is sent to caP 
us to accept it. A free return to the tree of life is offered 
to us through Christ, and we refuse it. With all the sad 
experience of six thousand years under sin, we deliberately 
adhere to the choice of Adam. We repeat his a^ in our 
own freedom. We say to Christ: We will continue as we 
are, hug our chains, cling to our bondage; we will not 
come back. Adam has chosen, we abide the choice. The 
tree of life has been forfeited, we stand by the result. We 
despise your sufferings, we refuse your sacrifice. We will 
repeat the sin of the first Adam, and die, rather than ac- 
cept the sacrifice of the second Adam, and live. O friend, 
is not this deeper sin than that which brought our fall? 
Is not deliberate and conscious sin worse than tempted 
and ignorant impulse? impenitence and ingratitude, than 
passion and appetite? "This is now the condemnation, 
that light has come into the world, and men prefer dark- 
ness to light, because their deeds are evil." (John iii: 19.) 
This is the reproof of the Paraclete^ that Jesus has died 
and risen again, and men will not believe on him, 

1, He shall convince the world of righteousness. This is 
the second great theme of the Paraclete, to convince the 
world of righteousness. This term has a double sense: it 
points, j^rj/, to the personal charader of Christ; second, 
to his representative charader. In both these respeds, 
Jesus must be vindicated before the world. 

His personal charader was involved in two charges. 
The Jews accused him of blasphemy and treason \ blas- 
phemy, because he professed to be the Son of God, and 
thus made himself equal with God (John v: 18); and 
treason, because he claimed to be a King, and so was a 
rival of Caesar. (John xix: 12.) The refutation of these 
charges was easy. The great argument is that " I go to the 



W. K. PENDLETON. 319 



Father." If I am not the Son of God, the Father will not 
receive me; if I am not King, he will not welcome me 
to the throne. He will not acknowledge an imposter, 
nor honor a pretender. Condemned before Pilate, I ap- 
peal to the "King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only 
wise God, with whom are honor and glory forever and 
ever." (i Tim. i: 17.) If he acquits, who shall con- 
demn? "I have set the Lord always before me: because 
he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Thou wilt 
not leave my soul in hell; peither wilt thou suffer thine 
Holy One to see corruption." (Psalms xvi : 9-1 1.) This 
was the sublime confidence with which Jesus went to the 
bar of Pilate, to the cross, to the tomb, to the judgment 
of the Father. Who shall witness the trial, and report to 
us the eternal verdid? Human witnesses can not be ad- 
mitted to this scene. The Paraclete must come, and the 
demonstration must be worthy of the sufferer. 

This is the first great theme of Pentecost. Peter makes 
it the prominent point in his first argument. The mighty 
wonder of the out-poured Spirit demonstrates this : — 
"This same Jesus whom you took, and with wicked hands 
crucified and slew, hath God raised up, whereof we are all 
witnesses: him hath God acknowledged as his. Son, and 
exalted to the throne, saying, 'Sit thou on my right hand, 
until I make thy foes thy footstool.' Let all the house of 
Israel know assuredly this, that God hath made that same 
Jesus whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ." 
(Ads ii: 32-36.) Thus is he vindicated in his high pre- 
tensions as the Son of God, as the King of kings and the 
Lord of lords, and thus is the personal righteousness of 
Jesus proved by the Spirit. 

But there is another sense, in which the righteousness 
of Christ is of deepest interest to us. As a matter merely 



320 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



personal to him, his righteousness is, indeed, also a ques- 
tion of vital interest to us, since all his pretensions as our 
Savior hang upon his Divine nature and official grandeur 
as both the Son of God, and King. But, in connedlion 
with his representative character, his righteousness has a 
dearer and more comforting significance to us. In his 
manifestation as the Son of God, he is also the Son of 
man. '^ The word was made flesh." He became Imman- 
uel, God with us. In our nature, he fulfilled all right- 
eousness. He carried humanity successfully through 
temptation, through suffering, through death, and through 
judgm.ent, up to the very throne of God. He demon- 
strated the possibility of its becoming and being perfed:, 
" holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sin, and higher 
than the heavens." This knowledge is too high for us. 
It is an announcement of the Paraclete^ one of the com- 
forting things which the Spirit hath heard of the Father 
and shown unto us, a revelation of the superlative and 
transcendent grandeur of humanity in its new and myste- 
rious union with Christ, that passes all understanding. 
Ineffable honor, that thus we may be lifted up from our 
degradation and ruin to the honors and privileges of 
heaven ! 

*' Nearest the throne, and first in song, 
Man shall his hallelujah raise; 
While wondering angels crowd around. 
And swell the chorus of his praise." 

This perfedl righteousness of the God-man becomes, 
again, the sufficient ground of our justification. "By the 
sacrifices of the law, there was only a remembrance of sins 
again from year to year ; for it was not possible that the 
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins : but 



W. K. PENDLETON. 321 



this man, after he had made one sacrifice for sins forever, 
sat down on the right hand of God ; from henceforth ex- 
pelling till his enemies be made his footstool ; for by one 
offering he hath perfected forever them that are sandified." 
(Heb. x: 3-14.) Upon the altar of his divinity, he of- 
fers the sacrifice of a perfed humanity, and is made of 
God unto us, who glory not in the flesh, wisdom, and 
righteousness, and sandification, and redemption, (i Cor. 
i: 30.) '^He shall convince the world of righteousness, 
because I go to the Father."- 

3. He shall convince the world of judgment. If there were 
no evidence of a judgment, there would, perhaps, be but 
little resped for law. Man is so perverted by sin that he 
has but little resped: for authority that has no adequate 
sandion attached to its commands. But here, again, the 
demonstration of the Spirit goes at once to the root of 
all rebellion. It contemplates man as, by nature, under 
the power of the wicked one. It does not stop to inquire 
into the guilt or innocence of individuals ; but, with one 
sweeping generalization, involves all men in the great con- 
troversy with Satan, and condemns them because of their 
relation to ''the Prince of this world.'* It declares to us 
that the great controversy is one for dominion. By the 
successful temptation of the Garden, man fell under the 
power of the tempter. Christ comes to set him free. 
The conflid is not with man, but with Satan ; that tyran- 
nical prince, under whom man is held in bondage. His 
dominion is right, or it is wrong, legitimate or usurped. 
If it is right, then we are justified in adhering to it. If 
it is wrong, then we are involved in its guilt, if we do not 
forsake it. This is the issue. Jesus makes it, and Satan 
rises in all the might of a last desperate struggle to meet it. 
He approaches him with alluring temptations in the wil- 
21 



322 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



derness; lays cunning traps for him in the opposition of 
the Jews to catch him in his words ; confronts him with 
demoniacal possessions, to test the measure of his power; 
and, day after day, month after month, year after year, 
throws around him the cunning meshes of his strategy, 
till he brings him to the bar of Pilate, with specific charges 
and infuriated witnesses. The power of hell is. at war 
with the Son of God. The final issue seems to hang upon 
this trial before Pilate. The conflid is of the many against 
the one^ and the majority carry it. Jesus is humiliated, 
mocked, scourged, condemned, led away to be crucified, 
carrying his own cross, with fainting footsteps, to the 
summit of Calvary. All men forsake him. He '' looks, 
and there is none to help;" therefore, '' his own right arm 
must bring salvation to him." He must go down alone 
to the citadel of this enemy. "The war must be carried 
into Carthage." The way is through the valley of death, 
and the stronghold is the grave. These must be invaded ; 
and Jesus enters them, not as a strong man, prepared for 
battle, but with tears, and bitter cries of agony, and bur- 
den of sin, at which angels gaze with mute wonder, and 
the solid earth shudders to its center. Oh, this is the 
moment of hell's triumph ! Through its fiery caverns 
the shout of demons thunders: ^*^ Vi^ory ! viBoryl The 
Son of God is a captive. Let captivity rejoice, and hell 
flaunt her banners over the fallen!" 

O, thou bleeding Lamb of God, thou hast not fallen, 
but stooped to conquer! Thy strength returns to thee. 
Thine arms are around the central columns of this temple 
of Dagon. Thy mocking enemies are within the crushing 
folds of thy omnipotence. Thou canst not be holden of 
death. Rise, in the might of thy power, and shake off 
the shackles of the grave ; burst the cerements that bind 



W. K. PENDLETON. 323 



thee, and, as thou saidst for Lazarus, so for thyself: '^ Come 
forth!" 

Let us thank God that he did not suffer his Holy One 
to see corruption, but that he ^' declared him to be his 
own Son, with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, 
by his resurrection from the dead." (Rom. i : 4.) That 
in his final confiid he gave the verdid in his favor, and 
condemned Satan, with an everlasting judgment, to ''chains 
under darkness, to be kept till the punishment of the last 
day." (Jude : 6.) 

And now, what is the short argument of the Paraclete 
with the world .^ Simply this: If ''the Prince of this 
world is condemned " — already conquered, subdued, and 
in chains — what is the condition of ^^ the world^' who still 
adhere to him? Are not they under sentence with him, 
shut up in the fate of their " prince ?" Does not this 
argument "stop every mouth, and subjed: all the world 
to the judgment of God .^" (Rom. iii : 19.) The Spirit 
does not enter into a personal examination of the moral 
character of each man, and seek the ground of his condem- 
nation in his personal misdeeds ; but he raises the broad 
and universal question : Whom serve ye? The conquer- 
ing Son of God, or the conquered prince of the world ? 
These are the two powers. With which do you stand ? 
With the triumphant soldiers of the Cross, or the broken 
columns of hell ? Is not this a plain question ? Can 
not all men answer it ? Is it not an important question? 
Should not all men consider it? Is it not a decisive test 
of loyalty ? Should not all men be judged by it ? 

And now, how simple, and yet how comprehensive, is 
the ministry of the Spirit. In his great plea there is the 
one supreme end ever in view — the regeneration of the 
world. In all his work, there is the co-operation of the 



324 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Father and the Son ; for, '' while there are diversities of 
gifts, it is the same Spirit ; and differences of administra- 
tion, it is the same Lord ; and diversities of operations, 
it is the same God, which worketh all in all." (i Cor. 
xii : 4, 7.) In his manifestation to believers and to the 
world, he maintains sharply the distindion between a heart 
cleansed by the blood of Christ and reconciled to God, 
and one still under the power of sin, and allied to Satan; 
entering the one and dwelling in it, as a deity in a temple, 
and operating upon the other as an influence from without. 
In his operation upon the world, working through the dis- 
ciples — to whom alone he is sent — and employing words 
and miracles, truths and demonstrations, to convince and 
reprove them. And in the wide breadth of his plea, com- 
prehending only the three great themes of sin, righteous- 
ness, and judgment : " Sin,'' says the Savior, " because 
they believe not on me ; righteousness, because I go to 
the Father; and judgment, because the Prince of this 
world is judged." 




Ly^O-^ f is ,^oU^^i,y<y^eAj/->L^-, 



y''ljlJWL'-^i 



.y^c/i-<=>; 



JOHN W. M'GARVEY. 



FEW men among the Disciples have obtained a more enviable reputa- 
tion, and enjoyed more generally the confidence of the brethren, than 
the subjedl of this notice. Blessed with more than an average amount of 
praftical common sense, and having faithfully done his duty in all the po- 
sitions he has occupied, it is not strange that he should now be regarded 
as one of the safest and truest men in the Church of Christ. 

John W. M'Garvey was born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, March i, 
1829. His father was born in Ireland, and, when grown, came to Amer- 
ica, and settled at Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where, with a small capital, he 
went into the dry-goods business. His mother was a Miss Thomson, of 
old Virginia stock, and was born and reared near Georgetown, Kentucky. 
In 1833, his father died, and, some time after, his mother was married to 
Dr. G. F. Saltonstall. 

In 1839, ^^^ family removed to Tremont, Tazewell County, Illinois, 
where he was trained to industry by his step-father, and thoroughly in- 
strufted in primary and academic branches by Mr. James K. Kellogg, a 
successful educator of that place. In April, 1847, he entered the Fresh- 
man Class of Bethany College. While at college he made the good con- 
fession, and was immersed, by Professor Pendleton, in April, 1848. So 
soon as he became a Christian, he determined to devote his life to the 
preaching of the Gospel, and it was not long before he gave very conclu- 
sive evidence of fitness for the work. In July, 1850, he graduated as one 
of the honor men, delivering the Greek speech, and receiving marked 
tokens from the faculty of their high appreciation of his scholarship. 

Meantime, his family had removed to Fayette, Missouri, at which place, 
soon after leaving college, he taught a male school for ten months. In 
June, 1 85 1, his step-father died of cholera, while on his way to attend the 
commencement of Bethany College. He was a warm friend of the college, 
and gave it twenty-five hundred dollars while living, and left it a child's 
part in his estate. 

At the call of the Church in Fayette, Brother M'Garvey gave up his 
school, and, in September, 1 85 1, was ordained to the work of the minis- 

(3^5) 



3^6 ,THE LIVING PULPIT. 



try, and afterward preached for the Church at Fayette and neighboring 
county churches until February, 1853, when he removed to Dover, Lafay- 
ette County, Missouri. In March, 1 853, he was married to Ottie F. Hix, 
of Fayette. 

He resided at Dover nine years, and, during this period, he spent about 
half of the time at home, and, the remainder, preaching extensively over 
the State of Missouri, holding five public debates with various religious par- 
ties; he also collefted money to ereft a boarding-school in his village, and 
condufted the school two years. 

In the spring of 1862, he accepted the pastoral care of the Church in 
Lexington, Kentucky, where a large field of usefulness was open to him. 
During the same year he published his ** Commentary on Adls," which had 
occupied alhthe time he could devote to it for three and a half years. This 
is a work of decided merit, and at once fixes his reputation as a fine Biblical 
scholar. 

On the removal of Kentucky University to Lexington, in 1865, he ac- 
cepted a chair in the College of the Bible, with the understanding that 
only a small portion of his time was to be devoted to teaching, such as 
would not materially interfere with his labors in the Church. Under his 
ministry, the Church had reached a remarkable degree of prosperity, and 
his labors were highly appreciated by the entire congregation. But, finding 
that his whole time was needed in the university, in 1866, he resigned his 
charge of the Church; but, as the Church has not succeeded in obtaining the 
regular services of a suitable man, he has not yet been relieved. President 
Graham, however, now shares the labor of preaching with him. 

Brother M'Garvey is a little below medium size, has dark hair, light 
hazel eyes, and a very youthful appearance for one of his age. He is very 
strift and regular in his habits, and this fadl explains why it is that he has 
been able to accomplish so much mental labor without impairing his health. 

That which most distinguishes him as a writer and speaker is clearness; 
there is never the slightest confusion in his ideas. He has very little im- 
agination, and relies almost exclusively on fads for effe6l. His mind is 
well stored with these, and, in the constr.uftion and management of an 
argument, he uses them with great ease and success. In debate he is one 
of the safest and ablest men among the Disciples, and not the least source 
of power here is his remakable coolness — he is never thrown off his guard. 

As a teacher, he has very few superiors. Knowledge is what a stu- 
dent needs; hence, the matter-of-fafi man is always the best teacher — all 
other things being equal. But Brother M'Garvey is also an excellent 
preacher, and, as a pastor, has been eminently successful. He has a kind, 
generous nature, but is not very demonstrative. He attends stri(5lly to his 
own business. 



THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 



BY J. W. M'GARVEY. 



'* The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children 
of God." — Rom. viii: i6. 

IN order to our eternal happiness, we must become 
children of God. In order to our happiness in time, 
we must know that we are such. He who is in doubt 
on this subjedj must be not less unhappy than he who 
knows he is not a child of God. Indeed, the advantage 
is on the part of the latter; for he is likely to cast the 
subje6l out of his thoughts, and put off the evil day to 
the last; but the very fad: of being in doubt supposes a 
man to be awakened upon the subjed, and to have made 
some efforts to become a child of God, but such efforts 
as leave him still uncertain whether his sins, which he 
mourns, are adtually forgiven. His soul hangs in trem- 
bling suspense; now thrilled with hope, the more ecstatic 
from its very uncertainty, and now sunk to the very verge 
of despair. Such is the experience of thousands of the 
orthodox worshipers of to-day. They never attain to 
more than a ^'hope" that they are born again; and to 
often entertain serious doubts, is the best evidence that 
this hope is well grounded. To hear a man express him- 
self with confidence, would be to them a ground for sus- 

C327) 



3^^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



picion that he was self-deceived. Their religious enjoy- 
ment fluctuates with the phases .of their hope; and there 
are no songs more popular than those which give expres- 
sion to these fludluations. What else has given popularity 
to these familiar lines : 

" How tedious and tasteless the hours. 

When Jesus no longer I see; 
Sweet prospers, sweet birds, and sweet flowers. 

Have all lost their sweetness to me. 
The midsummer sun shines but dim. 

The fields strive in vain to look gay; 
But when I am happy in him, 

December 's as pleasant as May." 

Or, why else should men, professing to be Christians, 
ever sing these doleful strains : 

"'Tis a point I long to know; 
Oft it causes anxious thought: 
Do I love the Lord, or no; 
Am I his, or am I not?" 

How unutterable must be the distress, at times, of men 
who can sing these songs with the spirit and the under- 
standing! And yet, so common is this experience, that 
men look upon it as the common heritage of those who 
obey Christ. I dropped in one night at a protradled 
meeting, and heard the preacher addressing a company 
of some thirty young converts. He was warning them 
against certain sins and temptations which they must ex- 
pedl to encounter, and, among others, against what he 
called the '^ sin of despair ^ He defined it about thus: 
"The time will often come, my young friends, when you 
will seriously doubt whether you have ever been born 
again. I suppose I can appeal to the experience of every 



J. W. M'GARVEY. 3^9 



Christian in the house to-night for proof of this. All of 
us experience seasons when we hang our harps on the wil- 
lows all the day long, and can not sing the songs of Zion. 
When these seasons come over you, beware lest you give 
up in despair, and turn away again to the weak and beg- 
garly elements of the world." I could but feel pain that 
such a prosped: should be held out before young Chris- 
tians, and I wondered if this is the unhappy lot which our 
heavenly Father has assigned us. 

Turn to the Bible, and let'us see whether there is not 
something better within our reach than this limping and 
halting gait at which the people go. The experience of 
David is that which most of all gives shape to our mod- 
ern religion, and just as you might exped, here you find 
the very fluduations of hope and despair which we have 
described. Hear him, in the Twenty-third Psalm : '' The 
Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me 
to lie down in green pastures : he leadeth me beside the 
still waters. He restoreth my soul. Yea, though I walk 
through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no 
evil: for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff, they com- 
fort me!' What exultation and confidence are here ! Who 
that had listened to these strains, could, for a moment, 
imagine that the same heart and lips gave utterance to the 
following plaintive notes : " My God, my God, why hast 
thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, 
and from the words of my roaring ? O, my God, I cry 
in the day-time, but thou hearest not; and in the night 
season, and am not silent." Yet, these are David's feel- 
ings as expressed in the Psalm next preceding the one just 
quoted. Truly, our modern experiences have at least one 
model in the Word of God. But David lived in a darker 
dispensation, when the sun of righteousness had not yet 



330 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



risen and thrown his bright light upon the world. When 
you turn from his to the experience of the apostles, you 
find all the difference that there is between the uncer- 
tain shadows of twilight, and the clear light of noonday. 
Where do you read of Paul, or Peter, or James, or John 
expressing any doubt as to their relations to God? Not 
one single note of uncertainty can be found in all their 
writings. On the contrary, you hear Paul declare: ''We 
are always confident; knowing that while we are at home in 
the body, we are absent from the Lord. We are confi- 
dent, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, 
and to be present with the Lord." (2 Cor. v: 6-8.) To 
the Romans he says: ''Being then made free from sin^ you 
became the servants of righteousness." To the Ephesians : 
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, the 
forgiveness of sins." And to the Thessalonians: "Know- 
ing, brethren, beloved, your election of God." Here all 
is the language of confidence, of certainty. And so with 
the other apostles. Peter does not look upon the eledion 
of his brethren as a mystery that can not be solved in life, 
and that never can be certainly known till the judgment; 
but he writes, in tones of confidence, to strangers scattered 
throughout the provinces, as being " Ele6l according to 
the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sandifica- 
tion of the Spirit unto obedience and the sprinkling of 
the blood of Christ." And John exclaims : " Beloved, we 
are now the sons of God : and it doth not yet appear what we 
shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall 
be like him: for we shall see him as he is." 

Now, the secret of all this confidence on the part of the 
apostles and early Christians, is found in the passage be- 
fore us: "The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit 
that we are children of God." If the spirit of God testi- 



J. W. M'GARVEY. 33 I 



fied to the fact, how could they doubt it? No wonder, 
that with such testimony, they were always confident. But, 
then, you remind me, that our doubters of modern times 
are the very men with whom this passage is the greatest fav- 
orite. In the midst of all their doubts and conflifts, these 
woids are constantly on their lips. Even the preacher, of 
whom I spoke as addressing some young converts, had, 
just before that speech, made them all believe that they 
had the witness of the Holy Spirit itself, bearing witness 
with their spirits that they were children of God. Yet he 
was then telling them that they would be certain, in many 
future days, to doubt this testimony of the Spirit. What 
was the trouble with the man? Could he and his young 
converts really doubt what the Spirit of God would testify 
to ? I suppose not. And yet, they are full of doubt while 
dwelling upon and relying upon the very passage of Scrip- 
ture which gave the apostles their unwavering confidence. 
What clearer proof could we possibly have that their un- 
derstanding of the passage is different from that held by 
the apostles. And how do they understand it? Why, in 
the process of their conversion, they have experienced cer- 
tain emotions, which they are taught to believe are the re- 
sult of a direct impad: of the Holy Spirit upon their spirits, 
and which they understand as the testimony which the 
Holv Spirit bears to them that they are children of God. 
But the trouble is, that they can never be altogether cer- 
tain that it was the Holy Spirit which they felt. Some- 
times they feel as if it certainly must have been ; and some- 
times they fear that it was merely the workings of their 
own spirit, mistaken for those of the Holy Spirit. Thus 
they are tossed to and fro upon the waves of doubt, while 
the ghostly experience, like a speder in the distance, be- 
comes dimmer and dimmer as time removes farther away, 



33^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



and the shadows of failing memory fall upon it. The 
Lord deliver us from such uncertainty, and lead us into 
the clear light that shone upon the path of the early dis- 
ciples ! 

It is easy to see the sense in which the apostles under- 
stood this passage, or, rather, the sense in which Paul used 
it. He supposes an individual asking himself the ques- 
tion, ^*^Am I a child of God?" and sitting down deliber- 
ately to find the answer. Now, this is a question of fad, 
and is to be determined, like any other question of fa6t, 
by competent evidence. Further, it depends upon two 
other fa6ls : ist. What character constitutes a child of 
God ? 2d. What charader have I ? If I can learn with 
certainty what a man must do and be, in order to be 
adopted into the family of God, and then ascertain, with 
equal certainty, what I have done and what I am in those 
particulars, the question is settled. If what I am, and 
what a child of God is, are the same, then I am certainly 
a child of God. If they are different, then I am certainly 
not a child of God, and there is no doubt about the mat- 
ter either way. 

Each of these subordinate questions is to be settled by 
evidence, and the witnesses are named by the apostle in 
the passage. The first is the Holy Spirit. He is the 
only competent witness whose testimony we have on the 
first question ; for the question as to what charader a man 
must have to be a child of God, depends entirely upon 
the will of God; for " the things of God knoweth no man, 
but the Spirit of God," and ''the Spirit searches all things, 
even the deep things of God." The apostles had heard 
Jesus testify; but he had not told them all the truth; nor 
could they, with certainty, remember all that he had said. 
It was left for the Spirit to bring to memory all that Jesus 



W. M'GARVEY. 333 



had spoken, and to lead them into all the truth. Upon 
the Spirit, then, they depended for all their knowledge of 
the will of God. If they wished to know what constitutes 
one a child of God, they learned it from the testimony of 
the Spirit. They had no other way to learn it, and no other 
way was needed, for this was infallible. What they learned 
thus, they spoke with equal infallibility to the world. 
'' God has revealed these things to us through his Spirit,'* 
says Paul ; " which things we also speak ; not in words 
which man's wisdom teaches, tut in words which the Holy 
Spirit teaches." Others, then, heard the testimony of the 
Spirit through the lips of those inspired men, and in this 
they heard the very words of the Spirit. These words, 
again, were written down, so that those who had not the 
opportunity of hearing the living voice of the apostles 
might have the same words in writing, and suffer no dis- 
advantage, as compared with those who first heard them. 
We stand in the position of this last class. We have no 
testimony of the Spirit by inspiration of our own minds, 
neither have we the living voice of inspired men to inform 
us; but we have, what is just equal to this in value, the 
written depositions of the Spirit of God; and these tes- 
tify, in unmistakable terms, what a man must do to be a 
child of God. 

Lest some one should doubt whether it is scriptural to 
represent the statements of the Scriptures as the testimony 
of the Spirit, listen to a few examples of Scripture usage. 
Nehemiah, in the prayer of the Levites, uses this language 
in reference to God's dealings with the children of Israel: 
'* Yet many years didst thou forbear them, and testijiedst 
against them by thy Spirit in thy prophets^ Peter says the 
old prophets searched ''what or what manner of time the 
Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it 



334 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory 
that should follow." And, still more to the point, in the 
tenth of Hebrews, Paul, after stating that '' by one offer- 
ing Christ has perfeded /^r^'u^r them that are sanctified," 
says: '' Of this the Holy Spirit is a witness to us;" and im- 
mediately quotes a passage from the 31st chapter of Jere- 
miah as the Spirit's testimony. These passages show that 
the Spirit's communications to the inspired men them- 
selves — those made through them to living cotempora- 
ries, and the same when written down for the instrudion 
of future ages — are all alike regarded and treated as the 
testimony of the Spirit. Paul, in the passage we are dis- 
cussing, had reference, no doubt, to all these forms of 
testimony, for his language is unrestricted, and, therefore, 
includes all the testimony that the Spirit has given on the 
subjed in hand. But to us, the reference must be pradi- 
cally limited to the written testimony, for this is all we 
have. 

The whole matter of the Spirit's testimony resolves 
itself into this: that the Holy Spirit, through the Scrip- 
tures, testifies that men who pass through certain changes, 
and maintain, afterward, a certain charader, are children 
of God. Whatever may be men's theories of spiritual 
influence, you will find no believer in the inspiration of 
the Scriptures who will deny that the Spirit does thus tes- 
tify, or who will affirm that he communicates ideas on this 
subjed in any other way. And when you come to the 
details of the testimony itself — whatever may be men's 
theories of conversion — you will find few to deny that the 
man who believes with all his heart in the Lord Jesus 
Christ, who really repents of his sins, and who is really 
baptized, becomes a child of God. Some will insist that 
baptism is no part of the process; but none will deny that 



J. W. M'GARVEY. 335 



the true believer, when truly penitent and truly baptized, 
is a child of God. Here, then, we have the unquestioned 
testimony of the Spirit describing a certain charader, who, 
unquestionably, becomes a child of God. 

But, when a man has heard this testimony of the Spirit 
of God, he is not yet quite ready to say whether he him- 
self is, or is not, a child of God. There is another wit- 
ness yet to be examined before a conclusion can be reached, 
and though his testimony is given so briefly and so silently 
as to be sometimes overlooked, it is, on this account, none 
the less indispensable. This witness is your own spirit. 
He is the only witness who can tell you, with certainty, 
whether you have believed with all the heart, or whether 
you have really, through sorrow for sin, turned away from 
it. And still further, in the present distraded condition 
of the public mind on the subjed of baptism, your own 
soul must testify for itself — as it will ansv/er to God in 
the great day — whether you have been really baptized. 

In resped to our own spirit's testimony, especially, have 
our friends of the religious parties generally misunder- 
stood this passage of Scripture. They understand the 
text as if it read: ''The Spirit itself bears witness to our 
spirit that we are children of God." This would make 
but one witness, the Holy Spirit. But Paul has two wit- 
nesses, for he says: "The Spirit itself bears witness with 
our spirit." This is an exad translation of the Greek. 
Now, when I testify to my brother, there is but one wit- 
ness ; but when I testify with him, he and I are both 
witnesses, and my testimony agrees with his. This is 
just Paul's idea. The Holy Spirit itself bears testimony 
which agrees with the testimony of our own spirit, that 
we are children of God. The point of agreement is just 
this, that the charader which the Holy Spirit asserts to 



23^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



be that of a child of God, agrees with what my own spirit 
asserts to be my own character. 

Perhaps some one is ready to objed:, just here, that it 
is rather a strange mode of speech, for a man to represent 
his own spirit as being a witness to himself. But this is 
not the only passage in which Paul speaks in this way. 
When speaking of the unbelief of Israel, in the ninth of 
Romans, he uses this language: '"^I say the truth in Christ, 
I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy 
Spirit, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in 
my heart." In the Greek we have here the same verb as in 
our text, so that, more exadlly translated, it would read, 
" my conscience also bearing witness with me." Here are 
two witnesses, himself in the aggregate testifying to the 
brethren, and his conscience, which does not in every man 
agree with the spoken words, asserting within him the same 
thing. 

We now have the subjed: sufficiently before us, to begin 
to feel the solid ground beneath our feet. When the Holy 
Spirit testified to Paul what charader God would adopt as 
a child, he could not doubt it; and when he honestly in- 
quired of his own spirit what his own charader was, he 
could not doubt the answer that was given. When these 
two chara6ters agree, to doubt that you are a child of God 
Is to doubt either your own consciousness, or the words of ■ 
the Holy Spirit. While you are in your senses, you can 
not doubt the former ; and until you become a skeptic, 
you can not doubt the latter. This is true, not only of your 
first becoming a child of God, but also of your continu- 
ance in the Father's family. It is of this more particularly 
that Paul speaks ; for the brethren to whom he was writ- 
ing had all been in the service of God for some length of 
time. The Holy Spirit testifies what charader a man must ' 



J. W. M'GARVEY. 337 



sustain, In order to continue in the Father's house, and 
not, like the prodigal son, wander away and squander what 
the Father has given in riotous living. My own soul testi- 
fies at every point whether these are the traits of my own 
charader. And here it is that I feel most called upon to 
glorify the favor of God ; for at almost every point my 
own spirit testifies that I come short of the charader that 
the Holy Spirit's testimony prescribes, and were it not 
for one gracious provision, the answer would always be, I 
have become a prodigal. Tha't gracious provision is made 
through the blood of Christ; for a part of the Sgirit's tes- 
timony is this, that if the children will confess their sins, 
they have an Advocate with the Father, who is faithful 
and just to forgive their sins, and to cleanse them from 
all iniquity. My own spirit leaps with joy at this, while 
it testifies that in humble penitence I daily confess to God 
my daily sins, and thus, from day to day, the Spirit itself 
still bears witness with my spirit that I am even yet a 
child of God. This is no airy and unsubstantial means 
of determining this momentous question, such as prevails 
in the se<5larian world. It is incomparably more solid and 
reliable than that which modern visionaries have blindly 
substituted for it. It impels a man, by all the force of 
his desire, to know his prospers of heaven, to study closely 
the elements of charader prescribed in the Word of God 
for his imitation, and then to look deeply within himself, 
not for some mysterious whisperings of the Spirit of God, 
but for those fruits of the Spirit which charaderize the 
child of God. He who Intelligently applies this test, can 
no more doubt his conclusions than he can his own con- 
sciousness, on the one hand, or the Word of God, on the 
other. 

It is not usual, in the New Testament, to find these two 



33^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



witnesses brought together in the strid logical connexion 
which Paul, in our text, makes them assume. Usually the 
writer alludes to but one of them at a time, presuming upon 
the reader's acquaintance with the other. One or two, out 
of many instances, will suffice for illustration of this state- 
ment. Paul says to the Corinthians: ''Examine your- 
selves, whether you are in the faith." But how could they 
decide, by examining themselves, without some standard 
by which to judge themselves ? This standard is furnished 
in the Spirit's testimony, and the disciples were well ac- 
quainted with. it. Again, John says: ''Hereby we know 
that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us." 
But no man knows that he has the Holy Spirit, except by 
its fruits, as they are developed in his life ; and for a knowl- 
edge of these he is dependent on the testimony of his own 
spirit. In every view of the subjedl, you find a continual 
necessity for the testimony of both the witnesses, and you 
always find their testimony sufficient to set the mind at 
rest, or to make the soul feel the certainty of its orphaned 
or its alienated estate. 

And now, sinner — poor, wandering sinner — would you 
be a child of God, and an heir of glory? The way is be- 
fore you. It is no uncertain way. I call you not to dreams 
and airy visions, but to the highway of the Lord, where 
your feet, at every step, will tread upon a rock; where the 
clear light of heaven will shine on your path ; or, if the 
tempest beat upon you, you may never lose your way. 
You have sinned against heaven, and are no longer worthy 
to be called a son of God, yet he will receive you, he will 
fold you to his arms like a tender, forgiving parent, and 
the tears of your penitence will drown all your sorrow, 
and melt away into eternal peace. God help you to come, 
and to come without delay. 




X-^..^^^ y^^^yi^-i,^^) 






K vAM.aiToll (■'/ L'n. i'iitiliili':rs,(ai)';mnati , . 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



TT may be safely affirmed, that no preacher among the Disciples is more 
■*- generally known than the subiedl of this sketch. He has been so long 
connefted with the Press, and has traveled so extensively, that wherever, 
among Christians, the B^'If/e alone is the rule of faith and pra6lice, there the 
name of Benjamin. Franklin is as familiar as household gods. 

He w^as born in Belmont County, Ohio, February ist, 1812. His early 
religious training was according to the Methodist faith, though he never 
belonged to any church until he united with the Disciples. In the year 
1836, when he was about twenty-four years of age, he was immersed, near 
Middletown, Henry County, Indiana, by Elder Samuel Rogers, then ex- 
tensively known as one of the most successful pioneer preachers of the 
current reformation. 

Soon after his obedience to the Gospel, Brother Franklin began to 
preach in the name of the Lord, and has been engaged aftively in the work 
ever since. During the first twelve years of his ministry, his labors were 
chiefly confined to Eastern Indiana, where he was instrumental in establish- 
ing many churches, and scattering the good seed of the kingdom generally. 
He next labored extensively in Ohio and Kentucky; and, of late years, has 
traveled and preached in more than half the States of the Union, as well as 
portions of Canada. Under his personal ministry, about eight thousand 
persons have obeyed the Gospel; which speaks more for his zeal, industry, 
and fitness for his work, than any thing else that could be said. He is most 
at home in the general field; possesses little adaptation to pastoral work; 
and, in this department of labor, has met with little success. He has held 
some twenty-five public discussions, five of which have been published, 
and had considerable sale. This fadl would seem to indicate that he takes 
delight in controversy; but it should be remembered, that his method of 
working is well calculated to place him frequently in positions where he 
can not consistently avoid collision with the religious parties of the land. 
And, when he thinks it necessary, he never hesitates to "contend earnestly 
for the faith once delivered to the Saints." That he is particularly averse 

(339) 



340 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



to discussion, need not be affirmed; but that he loves discussion for discus- 
sion's sake, may be successfully denied. He has lived and labored through 
the stormy period of the Reformation, when a great deal of unpleasant work 
had to be done ; and he has never shrunk from any duty because it was not 
calculated to polish him, and fit him for the elegant walks of life. He has 
evidently been deeply in earnest in the work committed to his hands ; and, 
consequently, has had little time for anything but work — constant, laborious 
WORK. He is emphatically a self-made man, and has had to labor to his 
present position through most discouraging poverty. 

On the 1st of January, 1 843, he began his editorial career — taking charge 
of the " Reformer," a monthly of sixteen pages, published from Centre- 
ville, Indiana. This he continued to publish for about seven years ; the 
last three from Milton, Indiana, He then removed to Cincinnati, an4 
formed a partnership with D. S. Burnet, by which they published, jointly, 
the "Reformer" and "Christian Age," for one year. The two papers 
were. afterward consolidated, and Franklin was employed as editor; which 
Dosition he held for nearly three years. During the next two years, he 
published the "American Christian Review" as a monthly. He then came 
into possession of the ^'Christian Age," and commenced the publication of 
the "Review" as a weekly, which paper is now condudled under the style 
of " Franklin & Rice," and has an extensive circulation, and several assist- 
ant editors. 

Brother Franklin is about six feet high ; has bold, strong features, large 
gray eye, prominent mouth, well-developed chest and lungs, and weighs 
about two hundred and ten pounds. His whole physical and mental or- 
ganization indicates that he is capable of an immense amount of work; and 
this is shown to be the faft in the aftive, laborious life he has lived. As a 
writer, he lays no claim to elegance, his articles too frequently bearing un- 
mistakable marks of haste in their preparation. But he is generally forcible, 
and, as a writer for the masses, has been quite successful. He has written 
a number of trafts, all of which have been very popular; and the one en- 
titled "Sincerity Seeking the Way to Heaven," has had the largest sale of 
any traft ever published by the Disciples. 

He speaks very much as he writes ; or, rather, he writes very much as 
he speaks, for his extemporaneous style in speaking chara6lerizes all that he 
writes. He does not depend upon either elocution or rhetoric for effeft, 
but upon the power of the truth, which he presents to the people. He 
speaks as if he believed what he says. There is no hesitating — no doubting 
in his manner. And as he illustrates and simplifies every thing, so all can 
understand him, his preaching carries conviftion to all honest hearts. Be- 
fore a popular audience, he exerts a wonderful power. 



THE CHURCH— ITS IDENTITY. 



BY BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



" But we think it right to hear from you what you think : for, as it re- 
spefts this se6l, we know that it is every-where spoken against." — Acts 
XXVIII : 22. {Anderson^ s Translation^ 

THE Lord says, in Matt, xvi: i8, referring to the 
confession Peter had made: ''On this rock I will 
build my Church." My work, in this discourse, will 
be to define and identify the community styled by the 
Savior ''my Church." This is evidently the same com- 
munity styled "this se6t" in my text. The former is 
the Lord's way of speaking of the body in view, and 
the latter the way men, not in the community, and not 
understanding it, or its position, but owing it no ill-will, 
spoke of it. This language comes from "the chief men 
of the Jews," as we learn from verse seventeen. That 
which our Lord calls "my Church," they call "this sed." 
Those "chief men of the Jews" regarded the body, or 
Church, merely as a " se6l," or fadion, and certainly a very 
unpopular one, as it was "every-where spoken against." 
This word "sed:," is never used in a good sense in the 
New Testament; nor is the original word from which it 
comes. Hairesis, the original word from which we have 
"se6l," occurs nine times in the New Testament, and is 

(340 



342 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



translated ^^sed'* five times, and "heresies*' four times. 
We read of damnable heresies (2 Pet. ii : i), and find heresies 
put down with " the works of the flesh " (Gal. v : 20) ; and 
find the statement added, verse twenty-one, "that those 
who pradlice such things (as heresies^ shall not inherit the 
kingdom of God." Heresy is ranked with "lewdness, 
uncleanness, wantonness, idolatry, sorcery," etc. In the 
speech of Tertullus, accusing Paul (Ads xxiv: 5), he 
charges him with being a ringleader of the "sed" of the 
Nazarenes. Verse fourteen, same chapter, we find Paul's 
reply, in which he says: "After the way which they call 
sed, so do I worship the God of my fathers." He does 
not admit that the body with which he was identified was 
a sed, but that it was called a se5t. We can not, there- 
fore, speak of a " Christian sed," or call the Church a sed, 
without as great an impropriety as to speak of a Christian 
heresy^ or call the Church a heresy. 

There is a community called, in the New Testament, 
"the kingdom of God" (John iii: 3) ; "the Church of the 
living God" (i Tim. iii: 15) ; "one body" (Eph. iv: 4). 

To be in this body. Church, or kingdom, is the same 
as to be "in Christ." It is to be in a justified state, or 
pardoned state. To enter into it, is to enter into a state 
of justification or pardon. In entering into that body, we 
come to the blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin; 
to the Spirit and to the life of Christ, all of which are in the 
body. If we enjoy pardon, the benefits of the blood of 
Christ, the Holy Spirit, the life of Christ, we must be in 
the body. God and Christ dwell in the Church, which 
is the temple of God and the "pillar and support of the 
truth." To dwell with God and Christ, enjoy the cleans- 
ing of the blood of Christ, the remission of sins, the im- 
partation of the Spirit of God, and the new life, we must 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 343 



be In Christ, or in his body — the Church. To be out of 
the Church is to be separated from God, Christ, the Holy 
Spirit, the blood of Christ, the life of Christ, and justifi- 
cation. It becomes a matter of momentous importance, 
then, to know that we are in Christ, or in the Church. 

It is not enough to know that we are in a Churchy but 
we must know that we are in ''the Church of the living 
God," " the kingdom of God," or " body of Christ." 
There is not a promise in any other institution or com- 
munity, but this. The Lord-has one Church, and we must 
not mistake something else for that Church. How can we 
know that we are members of the Church, unless we know 
what the Church is ? If we do not know what the Church 
is, we do not know whether we are In the Church or not, 
whether we are in Christ or not, whether we are justified or 
not. If we Intend to enjoy God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, 
the blood of Christ, and. In one word, the salvation of God, 
in the kingdom or Church, we must be in that kingdom. 
To be in the kingdom or Church, we must know what it 
is. How shall we, then, identify the Church or kingdom 
of Christ? 1 lay down the following points for consider- 
ation: 

I. A body, or community, not built on the foundation 
which God laid, is not the community which the Lord calls 
''my Church." 

II. A community not founded and established in the 
right place, is not the Church of Christ. 

III. A community not founded at the right time, is not 
the kingdom of Christ. 

IV. No church can be the true Church not founded by 
the proper persons, Christ and the apostles. 

V. A kingdom, with any other law than the one given 
by the head of the Church, is not the kingdom of Christ. 



344 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



VI. Any community labeled with a foreign name, or a 
name not found to designate the body of Christ, in the 
New Testament, is not the kingdom of God. 

A failure at any one of these points is fatal to the claims 
of any body professing to be the body of Christ. It is 
due to the greater portion of the religious bodies of our 
day, called "churches," to state distinctly that they do not 
claim to be the kingdom of God, or the body of Christ. 
Excepting a few, the balance only claim to be branches of 
the body, or Church of Christ. Where a church does not 
claim to be "the Church," but simply a branch of the 
Church, the members are only members of a branch, and 
the officers are only officers of a branch, and not members 
and officers of the body of Christ. These branches, and 
officers in them, are as separate and distind: from the king- 
dom of Christ and the officers in it, as Great Britain and 
Russia, and the officers of these respedive governments. 
One of these branch communities does not respedl the adts 
of another, or in any way regard them. These different 
branch communities are distin6t, separate, and independent 
kingdoms, with different laws, officers, names, founda- 
tions, times, and places of origin. They are not built on 
the same foundation, did not originate at the same time 
and place, have not the same law and officers, nor the 
same ecclesiastical organization, and are, to all intents and 
purposes, independent and distind communities. If one 
of them dies, there is no grief or lamentation among the 
others, in view of the loss, nor an effort to save another 
branch of the same church from dying. They are all willing 
it should die. They have not one particle of sympathy 
for it. If a new party attempts to rise, the parties in ex- 
istence, instead of thanking God that another orthodox 
church has been born, taking it by the hand and raising 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 345 



It up to manhood, and rejoicing in its appearance, turn 
their batteries on it from every quarter, denouncing it as 
a ''damnable heresy," and do their utmost to destroy 
it. When they fail, and find that it will live in spite of 
all their denunciations and efforts to kill it, they turn 
round and recognize it as another ''orthodox denomina- 
tion." Not a new religious party ever came into existence 
on the face of the globe that was not denounced as a heresy^ 
when it first made its appearance, and that was not fought 
and opposed while it was young and weak. But when a 
party becomes strong, influential, and popular, it becomes 
an orthodox branch of the church ! Thus, all the parties 
now called "orthodox branches" were once styled "her- 
esies;" and that, too, when they were better than they are 
now; but when they could fight their way, and live, in spite 
of the old ones, they ceased to be heresies, and became ^00^ 
orthodox branches ! 

I. We have said, that no party, or community not built 
on the foundation which the Lord laid in Zion, is "the 
Church of the living God." What, then, is the foundation 
of the true Church? The Lord inquired of the apostles, 
"Who say you that I am.?" Peter replied: "Thou art 
the Christ, the Son of the living God." The Savior pro- 
ceeded: "On this rock I will build my Church." On 
which rock? On this grand statement, which flesh and 
blood had not revealed, but which the Father in heaven 
had revealed, and which he compares to a rock — that "Je- 
sus is the Christ, the Son of the living God" — "on this," 
says he, "I will found my Church." This is the great 
proposition of the Divine government. In it all the 
minor propositions are included. In it centers, and on 
it rests, the entire revelation from God to man. If this 
grand proposition concerning Jesus, that " he is the Christ, 



346 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the Son of the living God," is true, the entire Scriptures 
are true; for this being true, he knew all things, and his 
numerous quotations from Moses, the Psalms, and the 
Prophets, as the word of God, and the language of the Spirit of 
God, is an indorsement of all these writings. His calling 
the apostles, sending them and qualifying them, as well as 
endowing them with supernatural pov/er, gave them an en- 
dorsement that no man can in honor evade. This grand 
proposition is the foundation of the Church, the faith, all 
true piety, and the hope of heaven. It is not a proposi- 
tion concerning a theory, a speculation, or subtlety, but a 
proposition concerning a person, who was dead and is alive, 
and lives forever and ever. This proposition is of such 
momentous magnitude, if true, that we will be lost for- 
ever if we do not receive it. The Almighty Father will 
cast us off forever, as if we had rejeded himself in person, 
if we rejedt this fundamental proposition concerning his 
Son. The moment we receive this proposition, we bind 
ourselves to receive all that Jesus taught, do all he com- 
manded, and furthermore, we have a right to hope for all 
he has promised. 

How many churches have we in this generation that are 
built on this foundation, or that will receive a person on 
this foundation ? I regret to know that many of them 
openly declare this not sufficient. They maintain that we 
must have something more. In doing this, they do not 
honor our most gracious and adorable Lord, but dishonor 
him. Is there one church in the world that ignores all 
articles of religion, written out by uninspired men, in re- 
ceiving the sinner, and that receives him on the confes- 
sion, that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living 
God?" There is one Church that does this. This 
Church is built on this great truth, and receives every 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 347 



person that comes on this foundation-truth, to the initiat- 
ing rite of the New Institution ; and it will receive him 
on nothing else. Those received on this foundation, and 
united in one body, are on the rock — the sure foundation. 
Those built on any other foundation, or not on this foun- 
dation, can not claim to be the Church of the living God, 
the body, or kingdom of Christ. The Romish Church is 
not built on the truth that ''Jesus is the Christ, the Son 
of the living God" — the rock — but on "the lie" thatP^/^r 
is the rock. The central idea,' or foundation-thought, in 
the Episcopal Church, is its form of church government. 
Its very name originated in this peculiar form of govern- 
ment. This is a side foundation, or another foundation, 
and not the one which the Lord laid. Not being built 
on the true foundation — the one which God laid — it is 
not the building of God, not the temple of God. 

The fundamental, or central, idea in Methodism, or in 
the Methodist body, is method. It took its name from 
the idea of method. It is founded on the idea of method. 
There is nothing religious, spiritual, or celestial in method. 
There are as many methods of doing evil as of doing good. 
Still, this is the central idea of the largest Protestant party 
in the world. This is not only another^ but almost no 
foundation. No wonder that a people should be dividing 
every few years, with a central idea so feeble in its attradive 
powers. The Presbyterian body has for its central, or 
fundamental idea, the Presbyterial form of church govern- 
ment, or the idea of governing by a presbytery. This 
is, so far as it is a foundation at all, another foundation^ 
and not the one which God laid. The body, or building 
on it, is not on the true foundation, and not the building 
of God. The central idea in the Baptist body is baptism. 
The body takes its name from the initiatory rite of the. 



34^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



kingdomj and not from the head over all, blessed for- 
ever and ever. It is founded on an ordinance ^ and not on 
the truth concerning him who authorized the ordinance. 
This is another foundation. So on, the whole round of 
sectarian establishments. Not one of them is founded 
on the true foundation — the truth — concerning Jesus, that 
" he is the Christ, the Son of the living God." Not one 
of them has confidence enough in our Lord to make the 
truth concerning him its central idea, its foundation. Not 
one of them is willing to identify itself with our Lord, 
commit itself to him as its teacher, leader, and head, and, 
binding itself to his holy law, declare itself for him, and 
all he taught. 

IL A community not founded or established in the 
right place is not the true Church. I am rejoiced that I 
need no special effort to show the place where the true 
Church was founded. All agree that in Jerusalem was the 
place. The Lord said it behooved the Messiah to suffer, 
and to rise from the dead the third day; and that repent- 
ance and remission of sins should be preached in his name 
to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. It would be easy 
to refer to the prophets, and to many portions of the New 
Testament, and show, beyond all reasonable doubt, that 
the true Church was founded in Jerusalem. But, as all 
parties admit this, I shall not occupy my limited space in 
arraying the proof. 

If my hearers desire to know whether the body with 
which they stand identified is the true Church, let them 
inquire where it was founded. If it was founded in Jeru- 
salem, it may be the true Church ; but if it was not founded 
in Jerusalem, it is most conclusive evidence that // is not 
the true Church, No matter how many good people there 
are in it, nor how many good things are taught and done 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 349 



in It, it is not the true Church. One clear difference be- 
tween a counterfeit and genuine note deteds the one that is 
counterfeit, especially so clear a difference as a difference 
in the place of location. A difference, then, between any- 
body of people and the body of Christ so striking, as orig- 
inating in Rome, and originating in Jerusalem, or the dif- 
erence between being founded in Rome, and being founded 
in Jerusalem, proves that which was founded in Rome, 
London, or Geneva, to be counterfeit. The Church of 
Christ was. first planted in Jerusalem, and all churches first 
planted or founded anywhere else are certainly spurious. 
They are not genuine. Nor is it any matter how many 
points of resemblance there may be between the genuine 
and the counterfeit, they are not the same; but the coun- 
terfeit is only the more dangerous, and likely to deceive. 
When trying them, to determine which is the true or the 
genuine Church, look for this mark on it : '' In Jerusalem." 
III. A community not founded at the right time is not 
the kingdom of God, or body of Christ. This test is a 
severe one. It is unambiguous. The community which 
the Lord calls ''my Church" (Matt, xvi : 18), was cer- 
tainly not built when he said: ''On this rock I will build 
my Church." He alluded to what he intended to do in 
the future, and not to what he had done in the past, when 
he said, " I will build my Church." He taught his dis- 
ciples to pray, "Thy kingdom come;" but certainly did 
not teach them thus to pray after the kingdom had come. 
" There be some standing here who shall not taste death 
till they see the kingdom of God come with power." 
Many Scriptures like these show that the kingdom had 
not yet come, or that the Church was not yet established. 
In the apostolic letters, we find numerous references to 
the Church, kingdom, body, house of God, temple of 



2 so THE LIVING PULPIT. 



God, etc., as then in existence, showing that the Church, 
or kingdom, was established. This, then, proves that it 
was founded in the time of the apostles. This is suffi- 
cient for my purpose now. The true Church was, then, 
founded in the time of the apostles. This is a mark of 
the genuine Church not to" be found on any counterfeit 
in the world. A community not founded in the time of 
the apostles, is not the one which the Lord called " my 
Church," or is not the Church of the living God. I care 
not where the history of a community of people may lead 
us. If it lead not to the time of the apostles, it does 
not lead us to the founding of that body, purchased and 
cleansed by the blood of Christ. 

When did the Church of Rome originate? It did not 
originate in a day or a year, but gradually subverted the 
apostles' teaching, and, in centuries, inaugurated full- 
grown Popery. But there is not a trace of a Pope or 
Universal Father, to say nothing of Vicegerent of Christ, 
or Lord God, the Pope, nor Popery, in the history of the 
first three centuries of the Christian era. Popery was in- 
augurated too late, by at least three centuries, to be the 
true or genuine Church. It is one of the basest and most 
impudent counterfeits ever imposed on the credulity of 
man. If Popery was born too late, or is too young to be the 
true Church, what shall be said of those communities born 
in. the past three centuries ? They are all too young by 
largely more than a thousand years. No church that 
came into existence since the death of the apostles can be 
the Church of the living God. 

IV. No church can be the true Church that was not 
founded by Christ and the apostles. Churches founded 
by other persons, or originating with other persons, are 
simply not the Church of Christ. All books, all parties, 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 35 1 



and all men agree that Christ and the apostles founded 
the community called ''the body of Christ" — the ''one 
body" of Paul. What shall we say, then, of a church 
that traces its history to George Fox, and finds not a trace 
of its existence beyond him. There never was a Quaker 
before George Fox, nor a Quaker Church. The history 
of the world does not refer to the existence of a Lutheran 
or a Lutheran Church before Martin Luther lived. The 
Lutheran Church originated with Luther. The body of 
Christ existed from the apostolic day till the time of 
Luther, before there was any Lutheran Church. The 
Presbyterian Church originated with John Calvin. Be- 
fore the time of Calvin there never was a Presbyterian, nor 
a Presbyterian Church. The Church, or body of Christ, 
existed from the time of the apostles till the time of Cal- 
vin, and consequently could not have been established by 
Calvin. Presbyterianism was, therefore, born many long 
centuries too late to lay any claims to Christianity. It 
may have incorporated some Christianity in it, but it is 
still carefully and very justly labeled "Presbyterianism." 
The Methodist Church originated with John Wesley. 
Before the time of Wesley there never was a Methodist 
Church or a Methodist. But the Church of Christ ex- 
isted from the time of the apostles till the time of Wesley. 
Hence, Methodism originated with the wrong person to 
be the Church of Christ. The body of Christ originated 
with Christ and his apostles, and not with Wesley. Any 
body or community that did not originate with Christ and 
the apostles, but with some more modern person or per- 
sons, is manifestly not the body of Christ. 

V. A kingdom or community, with any other law than 
the one given by the Lord, the great Head of the Church, 
is manifestly not the kingdom of Christ. The law of the 



2S^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



great King is clearly laid down in the Bible. The Bible 
contains the constitution and law of the King for his king- 
dom. This was the only law ever authorized by the great 
King and Head of the Church, or adopted, approved, and 
pra6liced under in the time of the apostles. Any church or 
body of people, who have substituted any other law, no mat- 
ter how many resemblances there may be between it and the 
law of God, is not the body of Christ. He never author- 
ized a living man even to alter his law, add any thing to 
it, or take any thing from it, to say nothing of substituting 
another law for it. It may be replied that these other laws 
are like the law of God, or taken from it. This, these par- 
ties do not believe themselves. A Presbyterian does not 
believe that the Methodist "Book of Discipline" is of 
Divine authority; has no regard for it; and probably never 
reads it. A Methodist does not believe that the Presby- 
terian Confession of Faith is of Divine authority, and has 
no regard for it. There is not a party in the world that 
has any regard for the Presbyterian Confession of Faith, 
except the Presbyterian party. The same is true of the 
creed of every other party in the world. But all good 
people have resped: for the law of God. The law of God 
is supreme, and those loyal to it, united under it, and 
keeping it, are his people — the body of Christ. But those 
formed into parties, under other laws, are new settlements 
not indorsed by our King. 

VI. Any community labeled with some foreign name, 
or some name unknown to the New Covenant, must be a 
new and strange body. There can be no use in a new 
name for the old body or community. There must be a 
new idea, or something different from, the old community, 
to create the necessity for a new name. If we have noth- 
ing they did not have in apostolic times, we need :io other 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 3 S3 



names than they had. If we have the kingdom of God, 
the Church of God, the body of Christ, and nothing else, 
there is no need of calling it any thing else. But the truth 
is, new names come from new ideas, and are intended to 
express something new. A man may read of the Church 
of God, the body of Christ, the kingdom of God, etc., 
for a month, and it never suggests a Methodist Church, a 
Presbyterian Church, or a Baptist Church, unless in con 
trast. He knows that he is not^reading about these latter 
bodies, as they were not in existence at the time of the 
writing. The new and foreign name shows that it does 
not refer to the body of Christ, but something else. 

Now, there are so many notions about succession of 
churches, preachers, officers, ordinations, ordinances, and 
the like, that I know that many will inquire for a succes- 
sion in some of these respeds. It will, therefore be nec- 
essary to make a few observations touching this subjedl: 

I. The attempts at making out a succession of Popes 
on the part of Romanists — the wicked Popes through 
which their pretended succession runs, and the successions 
attempted to be shown in the Greek and Episcopal 
churches, are sufficient to cover the face of a man of con- 
science and sense with utter shame and confusion. If 
there is no grace to be found unless these successions, or 
any one of them, can be made out, the world is lost. But 
I am thankful that the New Testament knows as little of 
any of these successions, or any necessity for them, as 
it does of a Romish, Greek, or Episcopal Church. The 
Church of Christ is not built on a succession of any kind, 
Romish, Greek, or Episcopal, but on the truth concern- 
ing Jesus, that *'he is the Christ, the Son of the living 
God." The souls of the saints rest not on the difficult 
and doubtful task of making out successions of any kind. 
23 



J 54 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



They turn their hearts to the truth concerning our Lord, 
which he compares to a rock^ on which he said, " I will 
build my Church." They find the Church built on that 
great foundation-truth, and it receives all its members on 
that truth, as it did at the beginning, in the right place^ 
in Jerusalem; at the right time, on Pentecost; originating 
with the right persons, Christ and the apostles; having the 
right law, the law of God ; and with the right name, the 
body of Christ, the kingdom or Church of God, with the 
original worship and all things as they were at the first. 
Having come into the school of Christ, they are now his 
disciples, learners, pupils, and he is their Teacher. They 
are so busily engaged in the lessons given them by their 
Great Teacher, and so enraptured with them, that they have 
no time for examining musty records about successions 
of churches, men, or ordinances. They depend not on 
succession, but fellowship with the Father, and his Son 
Jesus the Christ. They listen to no unregenerated men, 
prating about a succession which never was, and never can 
be made out, but to the law of their glorious King. . If these 
successionists ask where the Church was in the dark ages, 
tell them you know not; that the Lord took care of it, and 
you are thankful to know that it is here still, full of life, 
power, and determination, and destined to do a greater work 
than ever before. Tell them, that, with God's blessing, 
we intend to restore the sure foundation which the Lord 
laid, and build on, sweeping away every thing in the way of 
the work; that we intend to reinstate the authority — the 
supreme authority of our only Potentate, Jesus the Mes- 
siah, head over all, blessed forever and ever, and sweep 
from earth all opposing authority of men; that we intend 
to restore the law of God to the people of this generation, 
reinstate it fully, where the clergy had set it aside by the 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 3SS 



dodrines and commandments of men, at the same time 
sweeping away all creeds, confessions of faith, disciplines, 
etc., in the way of the full and free administration of the 
law of God. Tell them that we intend a complete resto- 
ration of the faith, pradice, worship, and all things as they 
were at the first. 

Here is clear and definite work. That body, which 
the Lord called "my Church," which was "every-where 
spoken against," in the time of Paul, is here, alive, stand- 
ing on the old foundation, with the same head, creed, or 
law, and the same name; nor does it fail to be '^every- 
where spoken against" still; nor is it a matter of impor- 
tance whether it can trace a succession back through the 
dark ages or not; it is here and alive, and as determined 
as ever to live and maintain its rights. If it was dead, 
during the dark ages, God has raised it from the dead, and 
breathed new life into it. What we want now, is to know 
who its friends are? We want to see every man who in- 
tends to stand for the Head of the Church, the founda- 
tion, the apostles' teaching, and all things as they were at 
the first, to stand out on one side. If there are those 
who do not intend, to stand to this, we want them to 
stand on the other side. We desire to know who is on 
the Lord's side, and who is not; who is for us, and who 
is against us; who is loyal, and who sympathizes with the 
enemy. 

We are occupying the most responsible position of any 
body of people on the earth. We are bound to the Lord 
Jesus, in the new and everlasting covenant, sealed by the 
blood of Jesus, and confirmed by the oath of the Al- 
mighty, as well as by all the veracity and honor there is 
in us, to be true to this great work. Let us, then, make 
a glorious record, one that we shall be happy to contem- 



35^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



plate at death, and that shall be a credit to us in the day 
of judgment. 

To the King eternal, immortal, and invisible, the only- 
wise God our Savior, be glory and dominion, majesty and 
power, forever and ever. 




/4^^ Jn^cjf^^ /e 



T^-^ 



p. ^. Carcol] &rC?Piihb3iers,Cmcuuiati.O 



THOMAS PRESTON HALEY. 



npHOMAS PRESTON HALEY was born in Fayette County, Ken- 
-^ tucky, on the 19th day of April,' 1832. In the fall of 1833, his 
father emigrated to Missouri, and settled in Randolph County, of that State. 
The first Christian Church in the county of Randolph was organized in 
his father's house, and was composed chiefly, if not entirely, of members 
of his father's family. Under the care of Christian parents, and the ear- 
nest preaching of the lamented Allen Wright, Thomas became deeply 
interested in the subjefl of religion, and, at the early age of fourteen, con- 
fessed the Savior, and was immersed, under the ministry of Henry Thomas, 
now of Austin, Texas. 

When about sixteen years of age, he commenced reading the Scriptures 
and praying in the social meetings of the Church. In this way, he grad- 
ually acquired confidence, and began to give promise of the ability which 
has since charafterized his public ministry. 

Having made considerable progress in a rudimental education, and being 
thrown on his own resources, on account of the moderate circumstances of 
his family, before he was seventeen years of age, he took charge of a coun- 
try school, which he conduced for some time in a very satisfaflory manner. 
While engaged in teaching this school, he was in the habit of lefturing his 
pupils on various subjefts connedled with their studies and the pra6lical 
duties of life. This practice further developed his speaking talents, and, 
under the advice and instruftion of Marcus P. Wills and T. M. Allen, 
of Missouri, he was induced to give himself to the ministry of the Gos- 
pel. Accordingly, after having spent a few years preaching in a somewhat 
miscellaneous way, he was, on the third Lord's day in November, 1853, 
ordained to the ministry, at Antioch, Randolph County, Missouri. Since 
then, he has given his whole time to the work, excepting two years during 
the late war, at which time he was engaged in teaching. He was married, 
on the fifth day of May, 1855, to Mary Louisa M'Garvey, of Howard 
County, Missouri. 

From 1853 to 1858, he was engaged principally in the general field, trav- 

(35 7; 



358 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



eling extensively in north-western Missouri, and meeting with encouraging 
success in the proclamation of the Gospel. 

In the fall of 1858, he became pastor of the Church at Lexington, Mis- 
souri, which position he held until the summer of 1864. He then removed 
to Louisville, Kentucky, and became pastor of the Chestnut-street Church, 
in that city, which is his present field of labor. 

Brother Haley has a finely-developed physical organization, being con- 
siderably over medium size, and compaftly built. He has dark hair and 
eyes, is very ereft, and has a striking personal appearance. His mental 
powers are evidently well supported by a healthy, vigorous, physical con- 
stitution. 

As a preacher, he is a good Evangelist, but a much better pastor. In 
the last department of labor he has been eminently successful. The Church 
at Lexington, Missouri, was never so prosperous as while under his pastoral 
care. His labors in Louisville have also been greatly blessed. The Church 
for which he preaches has grown from a very small and weak congregation 
to one of the largest and most influential in all the country. These suc- 
cesses have been achieved by constant, laborious, and faithful work. 

His social powers are well developed, and these give him great influence 
in any church for which he labors. While he is dignified and command- 
ing in his manners, he is easily approached, and every one receives from 
him the most courteous and respeftful attention. He is a much more than 
average speaker, but by no means exerts his greatest power in the pulpit ; 
he preaches his best sermons in the social circle, and at the fireside of the 
members of the Church. 



BUILDING ON THE ONE FOUNDATION. 



BY T. P. HALEY. 



''According to the grace of God that is given to me, as a wise master- 
builder, I have laid the foundation, and another builds on this. But let 
every one take heed how he builds on this. For other foundation can no man 
lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (i Cor. iii: lo, ii.) 

THERE were divisions in the Church of Christ, in the 
city of Corinth. One obje6l of the Apostle, in the 
letter from which the foregoing language is quoted, was the 
healing of these divisions. In the tenth verse of the first 
chapter we find the following language: ''Now I beseech 
you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no 
schisms among you; but that you be perfedlly united in 
the same mind, and in the same judgment." 

The apostle again affirms (i Cor. iii): ''And I, breth- 
ren, was not able to speak to you as to spiritual men but 

as to those who are carnal, as to babes in Christ 

For since envy, and strife, and divisions are among you, are 
you not carnal, and do you not walk as men?" 

The apostle thus proceeds to present such considera- 
tions as are calculated to corred: this evil. He savs to 
them: "You are God's field. You are God's building." 

He does not say: You, brethren, are God's fie Ids , or 

(359) 



360 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



God's buildings \ but employs the singular number. Hav- 
ing introduced the term buildings he very naturally pro- 
ceeds to speak of the foundation; and as God has but one 
buildings there is but one foundation. The Church of Christ 
is, then, considered by him under the figure of a building 
or a house. 

What, then, is the foundation of this house? 

It has been affirmed that the Church was built in the 
days of Abraham, and that his family and immediate de- 
scendants were in it; that it was built on a "covenant of 
grace " that God made with Abraham. Of course, if this 
be true, then the "Church of Christ" has had a visible 
existence since the days of Abraham, and all his descend- 
ants have been members thereof. 

When, however, the harbinger, John the Immerser, 
came, he cried to Israel, saying: "Repent, for the king- 
dom of heaven — the Church of Christ" — is at hand (Matt, 
iii: 2), or comes nigh. Now if the kingdom had already 
come, if the Church had existed from the days of Abra- 
ham, how could the harbinger say it is at hand, or, it 
comes nigh? He could not have said it. Besides, the 
Savior, in speaking of John, says: "Verily, I say to you, 
among those born of women, there has not risen a greater 
than John the Immerser. But the least in the kingdom of 
heaven is greater than he." (Matt, xi: 11.) If the Church 
of Christ, the " building," was founded in the family of 
Abraham, and embraced all his descendants, John, being 
one of them, was already a member thereof; and the Savior 
could not have said, "he that is least in the kingdom is 
greater than he." But the kingdom, or the Church, not 
being yet founded — being yet in the future — he could, 
with great propriety, say, that, notwithstanding John was 



T. P. HALEY. 361 



^'more than a prophet," the least in the kingdom is greater 
than he. 

Again: If the Church of Christ, or God's building, was 
founded in the family of Abraham, then, of course, it ex- 
isted when Jesus commenced his ministry; and yet the 
burden of his discourse was, ''the kingdom of heaven is 
at hand," or, the Church is about to be established. 

Again: ''When Jesus came into the regions of Cassarea 
Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying: 'Who do men say 
that I, the son of man, am.?' They replied: 'Some say 
that thou art John the Immerser; others, Jeremiah, or one 
of the prophets.' He said to them: ' But who say you 
that I am.?' Simon Peter answered and said : 'Thou art 
the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus an- 
swered and said to him: 'Blessed are you, Simon, son of 
- Jonas ; for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but 
my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you, that you 
are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church; and the 
gates of hades shall not prevail against it.'" (Matt, xvi: 
13-20.) It is not difficult to see, from this passage, that 
the " Church of Christ " was yet future; and equally clear 
that it v/as not built, nor to be built^ on a "covenant of 
grace." Whatever may have been organized or estab- 
lished in the family of Abraham, it was not the Church 
of Christ. 

It would not be difficult to show that the Jewish Church 
differed, in many essential points, from the Church of 
Christ, to which Paul refers in the passage under consid- 
eration, under the figure of a building; and while we 
might readily grant that the Jewish theocracy was founded 
in Abraham's family, and on a covenant of grace, we should 
as promptly deny that the " Church of Christ" had an ex- 



362 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



istence at the time in which Christ said, ''I will build iny 
Church." 

It is affirmed by Papists, with great confidence, that the 
'' Church of Christ was founded or builded on the holy 
Apostle Peter." When Paul was considering the Church 
under another figure, he says : ''Now, therefore, you are 
no longer strangers and sojourners, but fellow-citizens 
v/ith the saints, and of the household of God; having been 
builded upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, 
Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone." (Eph. 
ii : 20.) With this declaration of the apostle before us, 
may we not ask, Why should it be affirmed that the Church 
is builded on Peter, rather than on Paul, or James, or 
John ? It would, indeed, be far more consistent in the 
Romanist to affirm that the Church was built on Paul, 
since it is certain that Paul did minister In Rome; and 
equally certain that Peter never saw the Papal city, which 
was to be so prominent in perpetuating his memory. 

In the language quoted above from Paul, he is consid- 
ering the Church of Christ under the figure of a house, 
composed of living stones, each member being a lively 
stone, as the apostles and New Testament prophets were 
the first admitted. The Church is said to be '' builded 
upon apostles and prophets, Jesus himself being the chief 
corner-stone." But, even from this point of view, Peter 
is the foundation In precisely the same sense as were all 
the other " apostles and prophets." 

Paul has, however, settled the question definitely in the 
following words : '' Other foundation can no man lay than 
that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (i Cor. iii : 1 1.) 
Considered, therefore, as a house composed of living 
stones, Jesus the Christ is the foundation. '' Behold, I 
lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a pre- 



T. P. HALEY. 2^2 



clous conier-stone, a sure foundation. He that belleveth 
shall not make haste." (Isa. xxviii : i6.) Considered as 
an organized association or society, the truth confessed by- 
Peter, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God," 
is the foundation ; and " other foundation can no man 
lay than that is laid." 

The question may be asked. How does a "truth," 
couched in a proposition, become the foundation of an 
organized association or society? We can not better an- 
swer this question than by presenting several illustrations. 
We have, in this community, an organized society, called 
a " Temperance Society." The truth upon which this 
organization is founded is stated in the following words: 
'The use of intoxicating drinks, as a beverage, is unnec- 
essary, and injurious." Every person embracing this 
truth, and willing to ad in conformity therewith, is ready 
to be admitted a member of the society. He who denies 
the truth of the proposition can not be a member thereof. 
Since all within do believe this proposition, and do ad in 
conformity therewith, the society rests upon, or is founded 
upon, the truth couched in this proposition. 

Again : Mohammedanism is an organized religion, or 
Church of Religionists. The proposition containing the 
supposed "foundation truth" is, that Mohammed was a 
prophet of God. When one is convinced that this prop- 
osition is true, and is willing to ad in harmony with his 
convidions, he is a Mohammedan. Since all Mohammed- 
ans believe the proposition, and since no one can be such 
who denies it, we say it is the foundation proposition. 

Again, we have, across the waters, organized govern- 
ments, called monarchies. The truth, or supposed truth, 
on which they are founded is, that kings rule by Divine 
right. Every man who believes the proposition, and is 



364 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



willing to ad: in harmony therewith, is a monarchist. He 
who denies the proposition can not be a loyal subject of 
such government. All loyal subjeds believing the prop- 
osition, and living consistently therewith, it may be, with 
great propriety, affirmed that the government rests on this 
proposition as its foundation. 

So the Church of Christ, as an organized association or 
society, is founded on the truth of the proposition, '^ Thou 
art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Every one, 
therefore, who believes this proposition, and conforms his 
life to it, is a Christian. No one can be a member of this 
body, can be in this building, who rejeds this proposition, 
or who will not ''show his faith by his works.'' Paul 
says: ''As a wise master-builder I have laid the founda- 
tion, and another builds on this." 

How did Paul lay this foundation? He founded the 
Church in the city of Corinth, and the Holy Spirit has 
caused to be written a history of this transadion in the 
following words : 

"After these things Paul departed from Athens, and 
came to Corinth; and finding a certain Jew named Aquila, 
born in Pontus, who had lately come from Italy, with 
Priscilla, his wife (because Claudius had commanded all 
Jews to depart from Rome), he went to them ; and because 
he was of the same trade, he made his home with them, 
and worked; for by trade they were tent-makers. But on 
every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, and persuaded 
the Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas and Timothy 
came from Macedonia, Paul was roused in spirit, and earn- 
estly testified to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus ^\ or, as 
the old version rendered it, that " Jesus was the Christy 

Paul, then, laid the foundation "as a wise master-build- 
er," not by preaching a "covenant of grace," nor the Apostle 



T. P. HALEY. 365 



Peter, but by preaching Christ, remembering that '^ other 
foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus 
the Christ." In referring to his labors among these breth- 
ren, Paul says: "For I delivered you, among the first 
things, that which I also received, that Christ died for 
our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that he was 
buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to 
the Scriptures, and that he was seen by Cephas, then of the 
twelve," etc. (i Cor. xv: 3.) And again, referring to his 
first entrance among them,' he says: ''And I, brethren, 
when I came to you, came not with excellence of speech, 
or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. 
For I determined not to know any thing among you but 
Jesus Christ, and him crucified." (i Cor. ii: i, 2.) Thus 
we learn not only how he laid the foundation, but precisely 
what the foundation is which he did lay. 

It is manifest, from these Scriptures, that Paul laid the 
foundation for the Church of Christ in Corinth, by " testi- 
fying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ," by preach- 
ing "Jesus Christ, and hifti crucified." What a lesson to 
preachers of this generation ! How many would now be 
content, in establishing a church, to preach as Paul 
preached — no more, no less? Not many, we fear! 

But the apostle says: "Another builds on this, but let 
every man take heed how he builds on this." How, then, 
may we ask, did Paul build on this foundation? He did 
it as a master-builder, a skillful architedl. The Holy Spirit 
tells us in the following words: "But Crispus, the ruler 
of the synagogue, believed on the Lord, with all his house, 
and many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were 
immersed." (Ads xviii: 8.) Thus were they builded on 
the one foundation, and the apostle has solemnly warned 
every man to take heed how he builds thereupon. 



S66 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Those who thus build now — lay the foundation by preach- 
ing Christ and him crucified — and teach the multitudes to 
hear, believe, and be immersed are surely building as did 
Paul, and will secure the approbation of God. But, alas I 
for those who build on this foundation any material not 
thus prepared ! This proceeding of Paul was in precise 
harmony with "the Great Commission " under which he 
was adling. '' Go preach the Gospel, the death, burial, and 
resurrection of Christ to every creature. He that believeth 
and is baptized, shall be saved; he that believeth not shall 
be condemned." (Mark xvi : i6.) 

On the day of Pentecost, ten days after the ascension 
of Jesus from the brow of Olivet, the Holy Spirit came 
down, and inspired the apostles to lay the foundation, or 
to set forth the foundation which God had laid in Zion. 
They did this by '' preaching Jesus." The waiting and 
anxious multitudes, among whom were the murderers of 
the ''Holy One, and the Just," already conscience-smit- 
ten, heard. The natural and necessary result foliow^ed. 
They believed. '' They were pierced to the heart, and 
said. Brethren, what shall we do.^" Then they that gladly 
received his word were immersed; and on that day there 
were added to them about three thousand souls." (Adts 

ii- 37-) 

The foundation, ''Jesus is the Christ," was laid. Three 

thousand were builded upon it by hearing, believing, and 
being immersed. The single article of faith presented 
to that audience was the foundation-truth. "Therefore, 
let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has 
made this same Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord 
and Christ." They heard this proposition, with the evi- 
dence presented, and the foundation was laid. They then 
obeyed the commands given, and were builded on the 



T. P. HALEY. 367 



.foundation. Thus was the Church of Christ in Jerusa- 
lem founded. 

The Church of Jesus Christ in Samaria was founded pre- 
cisely in the same way: '* Then they that were dispersed 
went every-where preaching the word. And Philip went 
down to the city of Samaria, and pleached the Christ to 
them; and the multitude with one mind gave heed to the 
things which were spoken by Philip, when they heard and 
saw the signs which he did." (Ads viii : 4.) Thus was 
the foundation laid in Samaria. The people were builded 
upon it thus. But when they believed Philip, who preached 
the good news concerning the kingdom of God and the 
name of Jesus Christ, they were immersed, both men and 
women. 

It will be seen that, in order to found a church of Jesus 
Christ in apostolic times, it was not necessary to discuss 
the questions of original sin ; of total hereditary depravity ; 
of justification by faith only; of the abstrad: influence of 
the Holy Spirit. So far as preaching was concerned, it 
was only necessary to preach Christ and him crucified. 
Nor was it necessary, in order to build upon this foun- 
dation, that men should understand any of the philoso- 
phies mentioned ; nor was it necessary that men should 
'' labor under conviction " for a long season — that they 
should ask the intercession of good men, pray, and be 
prayed for. It was only necessary that they should *'hear, 
believe, and be immersed into the name of the Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit." When they did so, they were recognized 
by the inspired apostles as Christians, and soon afterward 
addressed as such. He who accepts Jesus as the Lamb 
of God, slain for sinners, and yields to his authority ex- 
pressed in the commandments given to the Gospel, is a 
Christian. 



j68 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Whenever these truths shall be perceived by the religi- 
ous parties in Christendom — when faith in Jesus Christ 
and submission to his authority shall be the test of 
Christian charafterj and the bond of Christian union, com- 
munion, and fellowship — then shall that earnest prayer 
of the blessed Savior be answered: ''That they all may 
be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee ; that 
they may be one in us ; that the world may believe that 
thou hast sent me." (John xvii : 21.) Consummation 
most devoutly wished! when all who love our Lord Jesus 
Christ shall be united in one body — built upon one foun- 
dation ; when it can again be said : '' There is one body 
and one Spirit, even as you have been called, in one hope 
of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one immersion, one 
God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, 
and in you all." (Eph. iv: 4—6.) 

Then shall Zion arise in her might. She shall put on 
her beautiful garments, and go forth to battle against sin 
and uncleanness, ''fair as the moon, bright as the sun, 
and terrible as an army with banners." Then shall the 
kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of God and 
his Christ. 

"Then shall righteousness prevail, even as the waters 
cover the channels of the great deep. The lion and the 
lamb shall lie down together, and a little child shall lead 
them." 

** How sweet, how heavenly is the sight. 
When those that love the Lord, 
In one another's peace delight. 
And so fulfill his word. 

" When each can feel his brother's sigh. 
And with him bear a part; 
When sorrow flows from eye to eye. 
And joy from heart to heart." 







' cu^i^ 



RW.Catn.US-C Fulfcli^rs.CinciimaU 



ROBERT MILLIGAN. 



ROBERT MILLIGAN was born in the county of Tyrone, Ireland, 
July 25, 1 8 14. He came with his parents to America in 1818, and 
lived in Trumbull County, Ohio, for several years. In 1831, he entered 
Zelienople Academy, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and, in 1833, en- 
tered the Classical Academy at Jamestown, Crawford County, Pennsylva- 
nia, then under the Presidency of Mr. John Gamble, a distinguished grad- 
uate of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. In this academy, he com- 
pleted a very thorough course of Latin and Greek, and devoted some time 
to the elements of English literature and mathematics. 

He was striftly educated in the standards of the Associate Presbyterians — 
his father being a ruling elder in that Church — and^ in 1835, became a 
member of the Associate Presbyterian body, and was greatly esteemed for 
his piety and faithfulness by all who knew him. 

In 1837, he opened a classical school at Flat Rock, in Bourbon County, 
Kentucky, and, while engaged at that point, some of his students were in 
the habit of asking him for the exa6l meaning of sundry passages in the 
Greek Testament, and, for the first time, he was thus providentially made 
to realize the great responsibility of the man who presumes to interpre'' 
for others the oracles of God. He resolved to divest himself of all the 
bias and prejudice of his previous education, and to know the will of God 
as it is revealed to us in the original Greek and Hebrew, and to make that 
will the rule and guide of his life. He accordingly re-examined the whole 
grounds of his religious faith, and the result was, that, in March, 1838, he 
was immersed by Elder John Irvine, of the Church at Cane Ridge, Bour- 
bon County, Kentucky. 

In 1839, ^^ entered Washington College, Pennsylvania, where, in 1840, 
he received the degree of A. B., and, in 1843, the degree of A. M. In 
1840, one session before he graduated, he was ele6led by the Board of 
Trustees of Washington College to the vacant Chair of English Litera- 
ture. In this department he labored nine and a half years, in the meantime, 
however, giving instru6lion in the Latin and Greek classics, as well as in 
English literature. He was transferred, in 1850, to the Chair of Chem- 
2-A C369) 



370 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



istry and Natural History, in the same college, and, in 1852, resigned this 
position, and accepted the Chair of Mathematics in the State University 
of Indiana; but, at the request of the Board, he was soon transferred to 
the Chair of Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, and Astronomy. In 1854, 
he accepted the Chair of Mathematics in Bethany College, and, the fol- 
lowing year, was made an Elder of the Church at Bethany, and became 
co-editor of the "Millennial Harbinger." In all these departments his 
labors were highly appreciated, and Bethany College and the Church there 
were never more prosperous than while he was connefted with them. 

In 1859, he accepted the Presidency of Kentucky University, and the 
Chair of Sacred History and Mental and Moral Philosophy. In these 
positions he labored most earnestly and faithfully, managing the University 
with such prudence that it was not suspended a single day, at a time when 
almost all other institutions of learning in the State were closed, on account 
of the civil war. When, in 1866, the University was moved to Lexing- 
ton, he was, at his own request, relieved from the Presidency of the Uni- 
versity, and his labors confined to the College of the Bible. The Board 
unanimously eledled him Professor of Sacred Literature, and Presiding Offi- 
cer of that college. He still occupies that position, and is doing a great 
and good work in preparing young men for the ministry. Eternity alone 
can reveal the value of his services in his present department of labor. 

It will be seen, by this brief record of events, that President Milligan*s 
aftive life has been chiefly occupied in teaching, and, furthermore, that he 
has taught nearly every branch in the college curriculum. The immense 
amount of labor necessary to prepare for all these departments has severely 
taxed his constitution, which, though never very rugged, is now seriously 
impaired. Nothing dispirited, however, he continues to labor on in the 
cause of Christ with a zeal and constancy that acknowledge no discour- 
agements. 

His connexion with the various colleges, already referred to, was of 
great advantage to him, and gave him an unusually large experience among 
different classes of distinguished men, and this experience is now of great 
value to him in discharging the duties of his present position. 

President Milligan is a ripe scholar, an excellent preacher, and, as a 
teacher, has no superior in all the land. He has written considerable for 
the periodicals of the Disciples, and has recently published a valuable work, 
entitled "Reason and Revelation; or, the Province of Reason in Matters 
Pertaining to Divine Revelation." This work is intended for schools, col- 
leges, and private families, and is destined to have an extensive circulation, 
and will certainly do much good in giving the public proper views concern- 
ing the origin, charadler, and interpretation of the Word of God. 



THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF THE 
CHRISTIAN. 



BY R. MILLIGAN. 



"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love 
God; to them who are the called according to his purpose." — Romans 



IT is a question which, I suppose, is likely to occur 
sometimes, even to the most pious, whether the Chris- 
tian, having done all that he possibly can do to inherit 
eternal life, will certainly enjoy it; or whether he may not, 
like many a poor, unfortunate adventurer in the affairs of 
earth, be finally and for ever disappointed. 

It seems to me that this question is very clearly and 
definitely answered in the words of my text. For, if all 
things work together for his good ^ then surely the possibility 
of his failure and final disappointment is utterly out of 
the question. 

True, indeed, the child of God, during his present state 
of trial and discipline, may, like other men, be subjedled 
to many severe afflidions, temptations, and privations. 
Like Job, he may have to suffer the loss of all his prop- 
erty. He may lose his friends. And even his very life 
may be sacrificed by the diabolical hate and malice of his 
enemies. But, the Bible being true, all these temporal 

(370 



372 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



losses will result in his eternal gain. For while God rules 
the universe, all things must and will work together for the 
good of those that love him. These light aillidions, which 
are but momentary, must serve to work out for them a far 
more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2 Cor. iv: 
17), so that no absolute evil can ever befall any one of 
them. 

And the reason of this is, that God has so ordained it. 
Christianity is not an experiment. God is not a man, that 
he should make experiments. Our knowledge is limited; 
and hence it follows, of necessity, that our schemes of gov- 
ernment, finance, education, and internal, as well as exter- 
nal improvements, are all the result of many experiments. 
But God makes no experiments. '' Known unto him are 
all his works from eternity." (A(5ls xv : 18.) He knows 
not only what is, and what certainly will be; but he also 
knows what would result from any and every conceivable 
change of circumstances. (Deut. xxviii; and i Sam. xxiii: 
10— 1 2.) And hence it follows, that every thing pertaining 
to the scheme of Redemption was well understood, and 
clearly defined and arranged in the Divine mind, before the 
foundations of the earth were laid. Before the morning- 
stars sang together, and the Sons of God shouted for joy, 
God perfedly understood who would, in the course of future 
ages, be disposed to love, serve, and obey him. And'for 
the benefit of all such, he provided, in his remedial plan 
and purpose, every thing that was necessary in order to 
their being called, and justified, and sandified, and glori- 
fied. (Rom. viii: 29, 30, and Eph. i: 3-14.) 

To some persons all this may seem very much like the old 
and, we hope, almost obsolete theory of unconditional elec- 
tion and reprobation. Indeed there is, perhaps, no passage 
in the whole Bible that has been more frequently quoted in 



R. MILLIGAN. 373 



support of this dodrine than that which we have now under 
consideration. But, nevertheless, I am persuaded that a 
little calm and sober refledion will suffice to convince at. 
least all honest doubters on this subjed, that there is not, 
in this whole connection, the shadow of a foundation for 
such a hypothesis. For observe, these decrees of secur- 
ity and final triumph rest wholly on the assumption, that 
the persons to v/hom they refer shall have first become 
lovers of God. Take away this charaderistic or moral at- 
tribute from any man, and the aforesaid decrees have no 
reference to him whatever. This is evident from both the 
text and the context. ''And we know," says the apostle, 
"that all things work together for good to them that love 
God ; to them who are the called according to his purpose. 
For whom he did foreknow," as about to become his 
humble, faithful, loving, and obedient children, "he also 
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his 
Son, that he might be the first-born among many breth- 
ren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also 
called," in his purpose; ''and whom he called," in his pur- 
pose, "them he also," in like manner, "justified; and 
whom he justified, them he also glorified." 

Evidently, then, these decrees and assurances have ref- 
erence only to the lovers of God. But we all know that 
love can not be the result of any arbitrary decree or enad- 
ment. All the decrees of heaven and earth can not make 
any man, constituted as he is, love that which is unlovely, 
or which he is not disposed to love. We love that in 
which we perceive the attributes of loveliness. And hence 
it is said, "We love God, because he first loved us." (i 
John iv: 19.) And when love is thus generated in our 
hearts, it leads us to a perfed and unreserved obedience. 
For "love is the fulfilling of the law." (Romans xiii: 10.) 



374 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



And as long as we love God with all our hearts, and souls, 
and minds, and strength, and do his commandments, so 
long God is faithful, and will not allow any absolute evil to 
befall any one of us. 

All this, then, is very plain, and simple, and rational. 
The argument of the apostle, in this case, is just such a 
one as you would severally employ, if you were endeav- 
oring to persuade your friends and relatives of other lands 
to become citizens of this Republic. In such a case, you 
would, of course, say much about the fertility of our soil, 
the salubrity of our climate, the vast resources of our 
country, the enterprise, intelligence, and moral charad:er 
of our citizens. But you would dwell particularly, and 
with special emphasis, on the liberal provisions of our Con- 
stitution^ on the chartered rights and privileges of every faith- 
ful American citizen. You would assure your friends that 
if they would renounce their allegiance to all other govern- 
ments, and become citizens of these United States, that 
in that event, all the powers and resources of this vast and 
mighty Republic would then be pledged for their security 
and protection. 

Now, suppose that your arguments should prevail, and 
that many of your friends should really leave their foreign 
homes, and become American citizens ; would any one in 
his senses even imagine that there was any thing compul- 
sory in the case ? that this change of citizenship was ow- 
ing to any decrees of necessity or fatality passed by the 
framers of our Constitution ? Would any one suppose 
that these persons were deprived of their free agency, and 
made the mere tools and chattels of our Government ? 
That their being once citizens of our Republic implies, 
of necessity, that they shall always remain so ? that hence- 
forth they have no power whatever to expatriate them- 



R. MILLIGAN. 375 



selves; and that even if they should do so, our Govern- 
ment would still be under obligations to extend over them 
the shield of our Republic ? that they could rightfully 
claim the honors and protection of our flag in a foreign 
land, even after they had renounced their allegiance to our 
Government, and become the sworn and naturalized citi- 
zens of another nation ? No one would so reason. No 
one would so imagine. The most that could be claimed 
for these persons, in any case, would be the protedion of 
our Government so long as t4iey remained in the relation 
of its faithful citizens and subjeds. 

And just so it is in the kingdom of heaven. There is 
nothing in its constitution, or its laws, or its administra- 
tion, that in the slightest degree interferes with the per- 
sonal liberty and voluntary agency of any man, whether 
he be a citizen or an alien. But, so long as he is loyal to 
its King, and faithful to its laws, all the powers and re- 
sources of the universe are pledged for his safety and se- 
curity. 

The obje6l of the apostle, in this sedlion of the epistle, 
is to encourage his Roman brethren to endure patiently 
their many trials, sufferings, and afflidlions. For this 
purpose, he draws an argument ; first, from the lightness 
and insignificance of these, their present tribulations, com- 
pared with the glory that is afterward to be revealed, and 
of which all who now suffer patiently for the sake of Christ, 
will be finally made partakers. His second argument is 
drawn from the assistance and consolations of the Holy 
Spirit. It lays hold of our burdens, helps our infirmities, 
and makes intercession for us, even by and through our 
inarticulate groanings; and finally, in the language of our 
text, and the following context, he calls the attention of 
the saints — to and for whom he is writing — to the Consti- 



37^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



tution of the kingdom, and to the unbounded philanthropy 
and resources of their reigning Sovereign. He unrolls 
the volume of God's decrees ; and there he finds it clearly 
and indubitably recorded, as the immutable purpose of 
Jehovah, that all the riches, and treasures, and resources 
of the universe shall be made tributary to the present and 
eternal well-being of his children, and that all things shall 
work together for their good, so that neither death, nor 
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things 
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor 
any other creature, can ever really injure or separate from 
God's infinite love, the weakest and humblest saint that 
confides in him. 

"In every condition, in sickness, in health. 
In poverty's vail, or abounding in wealth; 
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea. 
As their days may demand, so their succor shall be.'* 

I am fully aware that we are slow of heart to believe 
these great and precious promises. We look out upon 
the world, and we see that the good, as well as the bad, 
are subjed: to heavy losses and severe afiiidions. And 
hence, we are prone to become skeptical, and to say, with 
the pradical atheist, that the government of the world is 
all a matter of chance ; and that Dame Fortune is still, 
ever and anon, from her rolling pedestal, dispensing her 
gifts without regard to either the charader or the destiny 
of mankind. 

But this is all a delusion — a delusion that arises from 
a still more alarming and fundamental delusion. We are 
all, alas! too prone to look upon this world as our home; 
and upon its riches, and its honors, and its pleasures, as 
the portion of our souls ; and hence we are, perhaps, all 



R. MILLTGAN. 377 



too much inclined to estimate our fortunes and our hap- 
piness by our success in our efforts to accumulate these 
things for ourselves and for our children. 

But the Scriptures teach us — and our own experience 
and observation teach us — that God himself is the only 
satisfying portion of the human soul ; and that to attempt 
to fill it, or to satisfy it, with any thing else, is like at- 
tempting 

" To fill the ocean with a drop. 
To marry Immortality 'to Death ; 
And with the unsubstantial shades of time 
To fill the embrace of all eternity!" 

They teach us, moreover, that if we would enjoy God 
as the life and portion of our souls, we must be like him ; 
we must become holy as he is holy. (Heb. xii : 14, and 
I Peter i: 16.) And hence, it follows that all of God*s 
gifts to man are to be estimated in the ratio of their tend- 
ency to this end ; that is, in proportion as they serve to 
bring us to God, to make us like him, and to unite us to 
him, as the only eternal and unwasting fountain of life 
and happiness. If the riches, and honors, and pleasures 
of the world have, in any case, such a tendency, they are 
a blessing to their possessor. But if they have the oppo- 
site tendency, if they serve to blind the understanding, 
and to draw away the heart from God, they are just so far 
a curse, and an occasion of evil. 

Now, that they often have the latter tendency is, alas ! 
but too evident to every man of observation and experi- 
ence. All that we see, and all that we know of such mat- 
ters, is but an impressive commentary on the words of 
our Savior, that a rich man, or a man devoted to the hon- 
ors and pleasures of the world, can hardly enter into the 



378 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



kingdom of God. (Matt, xix : 24; John v: 44.) And 
hence it follows that poverty may sometimes be better 
than riches ; that the frowns of the world may be better 
than its honors; and that even sickness, and extreme suf- 
fering, and destitution of physical comforts, may be far 
greater blessings than an abundance of all things that min- 
ister to our sensual gratifications and animal enjoyments. 
(Luke xvi : 19-31.) 

Suffering is a necessity^ and, if you please, a terrible ne- 
cessity ^ designed and ordained by God as a means of puri- 
fying our hearts, and of enabling us to overcome the lusts 
of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life. 
(Heb. xii : 6-1 1.) And hence, David could truthfully 
say: ''It was good for me, that I was afHided ; that I 
might learn thy statutes." (Psalm cxix : 71.) And hence, 
too, Paul could say, in behalf of all his Christian breth- 
ren : "We glory in tribulations also; knowing that trib- 
ulation works patience ; and patience, experience ; and ex- 
perience, hope." (Rom. v: 3, 4.) 

But all these tribulations and afHidions are in the hand 
of God, and under his control, just as fully and as per- 
fectly as are the means of our present physical comforts 
and enjoyments. "Is there evil," says he, "in the city, 
and the Lord has not done it ?" (Amos iii : 6.) And 
again, he says to Cyrus : " I form the light, and create 
darkness ; I make peace, and create evil. I, the Lord, 
do all these things." (Isa. xlv : 7.) And hence it is that 
he measures out to us, day by day, our necessary portion of 
discipline^ as well as our necessary portion of food. He 
willfully grieves and afflicts no one; but, as our great and 
benevolent Educator, he simply direds, and governs, and 
controls all things, so as to make them work together for 
the good of his chosen. 



R. MILLIGx^N. 379 



If any of my readers should ask ho-w God accomplishes 
all this — how it is that he allows no absolute evil to be- 
fall any of his children — I must, in that event, plead ig- 
norance. I can answer the question but in part. It is 
not to be expeded that the finite should comprehend the 
infinite. It is not to be expeded that such beings as we 
are, who live in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the 
dust, should, in any case, or under any circumstances, 
comprehend the vast schemes, and purposes, and resources 
of Jehovah. Mystery is written on all the works and 
ways of God. It is seen in the heavens above us. It is 
seen in the earth beneath us. It is seen in our own con- 
stitution. It is seen on every page of the three great 
volumes of creation, providence, and redemption. Such 
themes, therefore, as the one proposed, are too high for 
us — too wonderful for us to comprehend perfedly. 

The subjed, however, is not entirely beyond our knowl- 
edge. We may all understand it in part: perhaps, indeed, 
IS far as is necessary for our comfort and our happiness. 
Something very similar to it is seen in the care that every 
parent exercises over his children. Owing to their igno- 
rance, inexperience, and waywardness, they are constantly 
exposed to danger, accidents, and harm. But their father 
loves them, and cares for them. His knowledge becomes 
their instrudor ; his experience, their monitor; his wis- 
dom, their guide; and his power, their shield and protec- 
tion. Now, we have only to suppose that the attributes, 
capacity, and resources of the father are infinite, and then, 
on this hypothesis, all is well with the children. Then, 
indeed, they will not only be saved from a thousand ills 
and misfortunes, but all things will also work together for 
their good, under the government and administration of 
such a guardian. 



380 THE TIVING PULPIT. 



But this supposition is fully realized in the Divine char- 
after and infinite resources of our heavenly Father. All 
the laws, and forces, and ordinances of nature are at his 
disposal ; and, if these are not sufficient, he has but to 
command, and ten thousand times ten thousand angels 
are at once present to minister to the heirs of salvation. 
(Psalm xxxiv: 7; Matt, xviii: 10; Heb. i : 14.) And, 
if any thing more is wanting to consummate their safety, 
their security, and their happiness, he has only to draw 
on the infinite resources of his own Divinity, and their 
wants are all supplied. He has but to speak the word, 
and their tribulations are all ended ; their graves are 
opened ; their bodies are clothed with light, as with a gar- 
ment ; and their souls are filled with the joys and trans- 
ports of life and immortality ! "If," then, "God be for 
us, who can be against us ? He that spared not his own 
Son, but delivered him up for us all, how will he not 
with him also freely give us all things ? Who will lay 
any thing to the charge of God's eled ? It is God that 
justifies : who is he that condemns ? It is Christ that 
died for us ; yea, rather that has risen ; who is at the right 
hand of God, and who also intercedes for us. Who shall 
separate us from the love of Christ .? Shall affliftion, or 
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or dan- 
ger, or sword? . . . Nay, in all these things we are 
more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Rom. 
viii:3i, 37.) 

The ability of our heavenly Father to so manage all 
the infinitely diversified interests of his government, as to 
cause all things to work together for the good of his chil- 
dren, has been very clearly and very beautifully illustrated 
in the fulfillment of many other great and precious prom- 
ises. Take, for instance, the first implied promise of 



R. MILLIGAN. 38 1 



mercy to fallen man. " I will put enmity," said God to 
the serpent, '* between thee and the woman, and between 
thy seed and her seed : it shall bruise thy head ; and thou 
shalt bruise his heel." (Gen. iii : 15.) 

How very improbable, to the eye of sense and reason, 
did the proper fulfillment of this promise appear, for a 
long time. The very first of woman-born was a mur- 
derer — a slave of the Old Serpent. And, after the lapse 
of about sixteen hundred years, we find millions under 
his banner, arrayed against thd" government and interests 
of the Promised Seed. Time rolled on; and, soon again 
after the flood, nearly the whole world was given up to 
the idolatrous worship of the Old Serpent. The service 
of Jehovah was confined to a little distrid: in Western 
Asia. And even there, how often was the land stained 
with blood, and polluted with every species of abomin- 
ation; until, finally, the sin of even God's chosen people 
culminated in the betrayal and crucifixion of the Promised 
Seed. 

True, indeed, viewed from the proper stand-point, this 
was a mighty triumph over the Old Serpent. Christ, in 
this case, but stooped to conquer ; and hence, for a time, 
his cause triumphed gloriously. But soon again the forces 
of Satan were rallied. The Church was driven, like a poor 
disconsolate widow, into the wilderness, for the long period 
of one thousand two hundred and sixty years. And at 
the close of this period, in A. D. 1793, when the perse- 
cuting power of the Man of Sin was broken by means of 
the French Revolution, there really seemed to be but little 
of pure Christianity left in the world. 

But since that ever-memorable epoch, how great has 
been the change, and how mighty have been the triumphs 
of truth over error! Every thing pertaining to Christian 



382 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



civilization Is rapidly advancing. The Church Is coming 
up out of the wilderness, fair as the moon, clear as the 
sun, and, to her foes, terrible as an army with banners. 
The apocalyptic angel Is even now '^ flying through the 
midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach to 
every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." (Rev. 
xiv: 6.) And every thing in the signs of the times, as well 
as in prophecy, seems to Indicate that the time is at hand 
when "the kingdom, and the dominion, and the greatness 
of the kingdom, under the whole heaven, shall be given 
to the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an ever- 
lasting kingdom; and all dominions shall serve and obey 
him." (Daniel vii.) 

How true it is, then, that all the promises of God are 
yea and amen In Christ Jesus. (2 Cor. i: 20.) And how 
exceedingly great is the security, the consolation, and the 
happiness of those who have fled for refuge to our glori- 
ous Immanuel, and laid hold on the hopes and the prom- 
ises that are in him. Nothing can ever molest them to 
their real Injury. They may, indeed, for a time, like the 
Church, be driven Into the wilderness; or, like their Re- 
deemer, they may have to pass through the furnace of 
afllidion. But, in the end, it will all be for their good. 
And, with Job, they will each have reason to say, " Though 
he slay me, yet will I trust in him." (Job xiii: 15.) 

There is just one thing, therefore, and but one, about 
which we should all be extremely solicitous. It is not nec- 
essary to be anxious about what we shall eat, and what 
we shall drink, and wherewithal we shall be clothed. If 
God takes care of the sparrows, and even clothes with 
beauty and loveliness the lilies of the field, he will not for- 
get his children. But that which is now to us of para- 
mount Importance, is to know certainly^ that we are his chil- 



R. MILLIGAN. 383 



dren ; to he perfe^ly sure that we do really love the Lord 
with all our hearts, and souls, and minds, and strength. 
If we do this, we may safely leave all the rest to God. 
Our bread will then be given us, and our water will be 
sure. 

On this important question, then, the evidence of the 
Scriptures is ver) clear and satisfactory. ^^ If ye love me^'' 
s?iys Christy'-' keep my commandments y (John xiv: 15.) And 
again, in the same discourse, he adds: ''He that hath my 
commandments y and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me^ 
(John xiv: 21. See, also, i John v: 3.) Obedience, then, 
is made the test of our love, as it is also made the only 
sure criterion of our faith. (James ii: 14-26.) And hence 
it is, that in the final judgment, the destiny of every man 
will be made to depend, not diredly on the degree and in- 
tensity of his faith, but on the evidences of his faith; not 
diredly on the purity and strength of his love, but on the 
evidences of his love. 

Hear, on this point, the testimony of the Great Judge 
himself: "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, 
and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the 
throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered 
all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, 
as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats : and he 
will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the 
left. Then will the King say to them on his right hand, 
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre- 
pared for you from the foundation of the world: for I 
was hungry, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye 
gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, 
and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was 
in prison, and ye came unto me. Then will the right- 
eous answer him, saying: Lord, when saw we thee hun- 



384 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



gry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When 
saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and 
clothed thee ? or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and 
came to thee? And the King will answer, and say to 
them : Verily, I say to you, inasmuch as ye have done it 
to one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it 
to me. Then will he say to them on his left hand : De- 
part from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared 
for the devil and his angels : for I was hungry, and ye 
gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; 
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in ; naked, and ye 
clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me 
not. Then shall they also answer him, saying : Lord, 
when saw we thee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or 
naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to thee? 
Then will he answer them, saying : Verily, I say unto 
you, inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, 
ye did it not to me. And these shall go away into ever- 
lasting punishment; but the righteous into everlasting 
life." (Matt, xxv: 31-46.) 

Dear hearer, where will you be on that great day? And 
what sentence will you hear from the lips of the Omnis- 
cient and Omnipotent Judge? Do you love God with all 
your heart, and soul, and mind, and strength? If so, are 
you keeping his commandments ? Do you believe, with 
all your heart, that Jesus is the Messiah — the Son of the 
Living God? Have you repented of all your sins? Have 
you openly and publicly confessed the name of Jesus as 
your only and all-sufficient Savior? Have you, by his 
authority, been baptized into the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit? And. are you now 
giving all diligence in adding to your faith, virtue; and to 
virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and 



R. MILLIGAN. 385 



to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and 
to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kind- 
ness, love to all men ? If so, all is well. For just as sure 
as the Lord God Omnipotent reigns, if you continue in 
these things, and abound in them, you will at last receive 
an abundant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our 
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Peter i: 5-1 1.) There 
God himself will lead you to fountains of living water; 
and there he will himself wipe away all tears from your 
eyes. That this may be your happy and glorious destiny 
is my humble prayer, for Christ's sake. 

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of 
God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you 
now, and remain with you forever. Amen, 



25 







K, W CAf.HOl.l, .V i-.i). I'llBMSIlliRS, OINCINN.VPL 0. 



JOHN SHACKELFORD. 



JOHN SHACKELFORD was born in Mason County, Kentucky, on 
the 27th of Oftober, 1834. -^^^ paternal ancestors were from Wales; 
his maternal, from Ireland. His paternal grandparents came from Vir- 
ginia, and his maternal, from New Jersey. His immediate parents were 
both born in Mason County, Kentucky. 

At the time of his birth his mother was a member of the Presbyterian 
Church, but did not believe in infant baptism; consequently, he was never 
sprinkled. His father and mother united with the Christian Church when 
he was about ten years of age. His father soon became a leading member 
in the Church, and his mother was a deeply pious woman, who gave spe- 
cial attention to the religious training of her children. Surrounded by these 
influences, and having an earnest and impressible nature, John soon became 
anxiously interested in his spiritual welfare. After carefully studying his 
Bible, and listening to much parental instruftion, on the 5th of March, at 
the age of fourteen, he was immersed in the Ohio River by Elder James 
Challen. 

His early school days were spent in Maysville, Kentucky, where he ob- 
tained a good rudimental education, and, at the age of eighteen, he entered 
Bethany College, Virginia. He remained there until July 4, 1854, when 
he graduated, and returned home, and taught a school in Mason County 
for two years. 

During this time, he had constantly in view the calling to which he has 
since devoted his life. Those were years of calm but earnest preparation 
for the ministry of the Gospel, and, so soon as he felt the time had come 
to enter upon his chosen work, he at once gave up every thing else, and 
devoted himself exclusively to the preaching of the Word. 

His first labors were in Mason County, and, for some time, he had 
charge of the Church in Maysville, the place of his father's residence, 
where he was greatly esteemed for his faithfulness and earnestness as a 
pastor and teacher. After having been instrumental in doing a good work 
in his native county, he removed to Paris, Kentucky, to labor for the 

(387) 



388 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Church at that place. He remained there four years, and then accepted 
an invitation to the pastoral care of the Church corner of Eighth and 
Walnut streets, Cincinnati, Ohio. His health failing, in the spring of 
1866, he gave up his position, and, for a few months, traveled for the 
American Christian Missionary Society, and, at the annual meeting of this 
society, the subsequent October, he was appointed its Corresponding Sec- 
retary, which position he has held ever since. 

A few words in reference to his success in this last department of labor 
can not be regarded as improper or out of place. 

When he took the Secretaryship, his friends had many misgivings con- 
cerning his adaptation to the work. The prospers of the Society were 
by no means flattering, and the labor necessary to make it a success fell 
mainly upon the Corresponding Secretary. Few persons had much faith 
in the ability of any one to turn the discouraging prospefts of the Society 
into permanent success. One year of faithful labor has been expended, 
and we need only state the result : A larger amount of money was raised 
than ever before, while the prospers of the Society are better than at any 
other time since it was organized. A success like this is not achieved ex- 
cept by earnest, constant, and prayerful work. 

Brother Shackelford is of medium stature, has a delicate, feeble constitu- 
tion, a highly nervous temperament, and a nature, on the sympathetic side, 
as tender and susceptible as a woman's. He has light hair, large blue eyes, 
a mouth which indicates great firmness, and a forehead, though high, less 
commanding than expressively benevolent. Every feature expresses what 
he really is — a man of large conscientiousness, deep spiritual longings, and 
great purity of thought and aftion. He has very little of the sensuous in 
his nature, and, so vivid are his intuitions, that he is almost a prophet. 
As a speaker, if we except his aftive sympathy with all kinds of suffering, 
he has few of the elements of a popular orator. His illustrations are gen- 
erally apt and forcible, but his powers of rapid generalization are not equal 
to the requirements of a first-class extemporaneous speaker. When, how- 
ever, the subjeft of discourse is one that deeply touches his sympathies, he 
is always impressive, and often truly eloquent. Nevertheless, his style 
of speaking is better adapted to a thoughtful, seleft audience, than to 
popular assemblies. 

As a writer, he is clear, concise, and logical. He states his points 
well, and argues them in a forcible and convincing manner. So far, he 
has never been afflifted with *' cacoethes scribendiy^ but has written enough 
to convince us that he can wield a pen of more than ordinary ability. 



THE PRIESTHOOD OF CHRIST. 



BY JOHN SHACKELFORD. 



" For it is evident our Lord sprang out of Judah ; of which tribe Moses 
spake nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident: for 
that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest, who 
is made not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power 
of an endless life." — Heb. vii : 14-16. 

THE letter to the Hebrews treats of the priesthood 
of Christ. Our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which 
tribe Moses spake nothing concerning the priesthood. 
The priests were seleded from the tribe of Levi. This 
Jewish objedlion to the priesthood of Christ, the apostle 
answers by the prophecy in the one hundred and tenth 
Psalm, of a priest, who should not be called after the order 
of Aaron, but after the order of Melchisedec — a priest 
not by the law of a carnal commandment, but after the 
power of an endless life. The Jewish priests were con- 
stituted such by their descent and blood ; the High Priest 
of the Christian profession by the eternal fitness of things; 
because he alone could fill, truly and faithfully, the un- 
changeable priesthood, of which the Jewish high priest- 
hood was an imposing, yet feeble and inadequate type. 
Whoever Melchisedec was, it is evident that he was called 
to his high office by no arbitrary law or consecraced cus- 

(389) 



390 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



torn, but in consequence of the purity of his life, and the 
pre-eminence of his gifts and virtues. So with our great 
High Priest who has entered into the heavens. He is a 
Priest forever, after the power of an endless life. 

My argument in this discourse is to enforce and illus- 
trate this truth. Every people have their priests. This 
fad: bespeaks a universal want. Man longs for an inter- 
cessor with God; and Job uttered a purely human cry 
wlien he said : " I have no daysman to stand betwixt me 
and God, that he might lay his hand upon us both." 

This desire for priestly intercession may spring from a 
sense of our weakness, and helplessness, and sinfulness ; 
but, whatever its source, it is inherent in our nature, and 
can not be quenched. In what is the great power of the 
Roman Catholic Church? Its priesthood and confes- 
sional. It meets this want of the soul inadequately, im- 
perfectly, and impurely ; but, nevertheless, meets it di- 
rectly and tangibly. If a famished man is not supplied 
with proper food, he will seize any thing within his reach; 
and if the wants and longings of the soul are not lawfully 
and purely satisfied, they will seek unlawful and unholy 
gratification, the consequence of which is always a per- 
verted and diseased life. Nature abhors a vacuum ; so does 
the soul. If Christ does not fill the heart, some mon- 
strous idol or human priest will. An insincere and wan- 
ton priesthood may proclaim a false peace to the soul de- 
pendent on it for religious life, but it can never truly 
bless and strengthen. Only the perfed Priest can lead the 
soul to perfe6l peace and a true life. Christ is the only 
perfed Priest, the one Mediator between God and man. 
Speaking on this subjed, the apostle says: "The law 
made nothing perfed:, but the bringing in of a better hope 
did, by which we draw nigh unto God." 



JOHN SHACKELFORD. 39I 



There are three qualities which a priest must possess — 
power, purity, sympathy. 

ist. He must have power or ability to save. He must 
be invested with the Divine authority. Destroy the con- 
fidence of the Catholic girl in the power of her priest to 
mediate for her and secure the pardon of her sins, and you 
overthrow her religion ; she will abandon the confessional. 
That the priest must have Divine authority, is a truth 
that has the force of an axiom. Who has this power ? 
Not the Jewish priests ; they were compassed with in- 
firmity. Not the priests of pagan or papal Rome. Who, 
then ? Listen : " But this man, because he continueth 
ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore, he is 
able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by 
him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.'* 
He alone is able to save to the uttermost. The Son of 
Man has power to forgive sins. All authority is his, both 
in heaven and upon earth. His right arm will never fail 
him, though it bear across the tide millions of weak, 
helpless, heavy-laden, but trusting souls. The mercy and 
faithfulness of our God are with him. He is his first- 
born, higher than the kings of the earth. 

2d. The soul demands that its priest shall be pure. This 
manifests itself in the desire for the prayers of good men 
in our times of trouble. Even a dying man would sum- 
mon all his energies to spurn the prayer of a hypocrite 
proffered in his behalf. Such a prayer is an abomination 
to God and man. This desire, this vital necessity, ex- 
presses itself in the universal demand that preachers of the 
Gospel shall be pure men. A preacher is not a priest, 
except as every Christian man is a priest; but he is called 
upon to discharge certain priestly fundions, to comfort 
the sorrowful, support the weak, pray with the dying; and 



39'^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the demand for his personal purity is as righteous as it is 
instindive and universal. 

The Jewish high priest wore on his forehead a plate of 
pure gold, on which was graven, ''Holiness to the Lord," 
God thus declaring the holiness of the office. 

Now, our High Priest alone meets this demand for pur- 
ity perfedly. '' Such a high priest became us, who is holy, 
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made 
higher than the heavens." Mark these words of the apos- 
tle : ''Such a high priest became us'' Not that we have 
such an infinitely pure high priest ; not that it is fortu- 
nate that we have, but it is necessary, "such a high priest 
became us." No other could fill the office of the eternal 
priesthood. 

Consider, my brethren, the High Priest of the Christian 
profession. Living on earth, yet undefiled with sin; keep- 
ing company with the outcast, but only to bless and save 
them. Our purity is soon lost; we leave it in our cradles. 
We lay off our innocence v/ith our child garments. But 
the Son of Man lived a holy and undefiled life. How 
beautiful ! how wonderful ! that human life of pain, hun- 
ger, sorrow, thorns, temptation, and death, without sin ! 
" Such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, un- 
defiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the 
heavens." 

3d. Sympathy. We need a priest who can be touched 
with a feeling of our infirmities. He must be pure, to 
appear before God. He must be filled with all human 
sympathies, to win our love and bear our burdens. 

The mother is the natural mediator between father and 
child. Sometimes the case is reversed, and the woman has 
the man's nature, and the man the woman's. But the al- 
most universal law is, that the mother has a sympathy with 



JOHN SHACKELFORD. 393 



her child that no other being has. And the child will say 
to the mother, ''You ask father," when it has any request 
to prefer. Or, in case of an infraction of the paternal law, 
the child will flee to the covert of the mother's arms, and 
trust to her mediation for mercy. 

Not only in childhood is it so; but when ambition, and 
passion, and self-will are developed, and the boy is rebell- 
ious, and the father is just, it is the wise, gentle, tender, 
sympathetic mother that makes peace, and wins the wan- 
derer back. It is the human, heart of Jesus that qualifies 
him for the eternal priesthood. 

"His heart is full of tenderness; 
His bosom glows with love." 

*' For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but 
he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore, in all 
things, it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, 
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things 
pertaining unto God, to make reconciliation for the sins 
of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered, being 
tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.'* 
Mark these words: "// behooved him to be made in all 
things like unto his brethren." These words declare, not 
simply that he was made in all things like unto his breth- 
ren, but that it was necessary that he should be made in 
all things like unto his brethren, that he might be a mer- 
ciful and faithful High Priest. 

Again, the Scriptures say: "For we have not an high 
priest who can not be touched with a feeling of our infirm- 
ities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet with- 
out sin." Our sympathies are contracted. Men sympa- 
thize with their class. The rich often can not sympathize 
with the poor, the learned with the ignorant, men with 



394 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



children. But Christ can sympathize with all. He under- 
stands the heart of every tempted and suffering mortal. 
He understands the peculiar trials and perils of a child's 
life. He has borne to the heavens the memory of a child- 
hood spent on earth. The perils that beset a boy's life 
are many and imminent. Untried, unskilled, pressed by 
passion, and tempted by the great enemy, the early years 
of our earthly journey are, perhaps, the most dangerous. 
Blessed be God, children have a tender and almighty 
Friend, who can enter into all their sorrows, and succor 
them in all their temptations. There is no more sublime 
and beautiful sight than the struggle of a child to be true, 
and pure, and good. But we behold it with a fearful joy, 
lest the vidory should be lost at last. The passions have 
a power and urgency to evil much sooner than most pa- 
rents think, and the knowledge of good and evil comes 
to us in our very infancy. Let every tempted and strug- 
gling child be taught to go boldly to Christ, and find mercy 
and grace to help in time of need. We need not be afraid 
to trust the faith of the child because he can not appre- 
ciate the evidences of the divine origin of the Gospel. Sal- 
vation is in the Gospel, and not in its evidences. Life is 
in the air we breathe, and not in any knowledge of its 
causes and chemistry. 

While our Savior can sympathize with a child, he can 
sympathize with the great and gifted, who, by the very 
pre-eminence of their gifts, are removed from the sympa- 
thies of ordinary minds. 

When Satan showed Napoleon the kingdoms of this 
world and their glory — seas whitened with the sails of com- 
merce — beautiful cities — splendid temples — waving fields 
— vast armies, marshaled for battle, swords and bayonets 
flashing in the light — and said: ''All these will I give thee 



JOHN SHACKELFORD. 395 



if thou wilt fall down and worship me," in that hour of 
ioubt, and temptation, and conflidl, between conscience 
md ambition, the great soldier might have triumphed if 
fie had sought him who, in ''that he has suffered, being 
tempted, is able to succor them that are tempted." With 
the guidance and strength of Christ, he might have been 
a minister of righteousness; without Christ, he was a min- 
ister of darkness, and offered a bloody sacrifice to the king 
of hell. 

Christ was the Savior of Martin Luther. The reformer 
had the passion and power which belong to all kingly souls ; 
but in the fierce tempests that swept over his spirit, he 
sought a throne of grace, and found ''mercy and grace 
to help in time of need." So, too, with a grander still, 
Paul the apostle. He was crucified with Christ, and the 
life which he lived in the fiesh he lived by the faith of the 
Son of God. So, too, with our dear friend who sleeps at 
Bethany. Jesus was his friend and deliverer. Alexan- 
der Campbell was saved from ambition's crime by the 
grace of Christ. 

Let men, then, strong, brave, self-willed, tempted men, 
know that they can have the sympathy and guidance of a 
nature greater than their own, who suffered their tempta- 
tions, and is able to succor them in their peril. God gives 
men great minds and passions, not to ruin them, not for 
the service of Satan, but that they may strike heroic blows 
for him and his truth; that they may stand in the breach, 
and, when men tremble with fear, bear their testimony for 
righteousness, and smite to the earth iniquity and oppres- 
sion. Christ has need of great souls, and has left his prom- 
ises for them, as well as for us. He is the friend and de- 
liverer of men, as well as children — of the mighty, as well 
as the feeble. Christianity robs a man of no strength, but 



39^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



consecrates it all to the great battle of the Lord against 
the powers of darkness. 

Christ can sympathize with women in their trials and 
temptations. When here on earth, the tempted, weary, 
heavy-laden, found in him a gentle friend and a wise coun- 
selor. He had that wonderful dignity which amazed men, 
and sometimes silenced all questionings; which prompted 
Simon Peter, like a child, to beckon John to ask him a 
question. But he had that quick sympathy which drew 
to him all sorrowing arid broken hearts. When Lazarus 
was dying, Mary and Martha longed for the presence of 
their friend Jesus ; and when he came, (O, blessed history!) 
he wept with them at the grave of their brother and his 
friend. He was deeply moved, not at the death of Laz- 
arus, but in sympathy with the sisters. How gentle he 
was with the sinful woman. Remember, all ye frail and 
erring, Christ is your only hope and salvation. 

I once baptized a repentant wanderer, a child who had 
been betrayed and led into a dark and polluted life. She 
was baptized for the remission of her sins, holding, in a sim- 
ple faith, that she had God's pledge and covenant of pardon. 
As she came out of the water, she exclaimed : '' Bless God 
for this hour! " And now how can she triumph, how can 
she leave that dark, sinful life behind, and reach the light 
and peace of heaven? Blessed be God, through Christ, 
who has granted her mercy, and will give her grace to help 
in time of need. 

The struggle of the drunkard with his appetite seems, 
sometimes, almost hopeless. Worn out with his debauch, 
mortified, humbled in spirit, he resolves to abandon his 
evil habit. But when nature recuperates, and his mortifica- 
tion is past, in an evil hour he looks upon the wine when 
it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, and, tempted 



JOHN SHACKELFORD. 397 



by some siren voice, he falls. His history is a repetition 
of broken resolutions. Christ is his only hope. If he 
can learn to rely in simple faith on him, he will conquer. 
The reason why so many professed Christians, and some- 
times even ministers of the Gospel, fall into intemperance, 
is that, in their weakness, they do not seek Him who is able 
to save to the uttermost. Our Christian life is enfeebled 
by our hesitating confidence in the great and wonderful 
promises of our God. He knows all our sorrows. When 
dying, he had words of comfart for his mother. Ah, dear 
woman ! who can tell her agony on that dark day, as she 
beheld her child, the purest and noblest of earth, scourged, 
tormented, insulted, crucified, as a malefa6tor, between two 
thieves ? How fully she realized the prophecy of old Sim- 
eon, spoken when she came to the temple with her two tur- 
tle-doves, to offer sacrifice, according to the law, and to 
present her child to the Lord. And Simeon said to Mary: 
"Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of 
many in Israel ; and for a sign that shall be spoken against ; 
(yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also).'* 

The dying Savior entered into all the anguish of that 
crushed heart, that gave him the love of a mother, and the 
reverence of a worshiper. 

Mother, in your great trial, when watching your dying 
child, and afterward, when you have laid the sleeping body 
away, and return with a broken heart to a desolate home, 
remember you have a great friend in the heavens, who is 
touched with your sorrow, and who will give you mercy 
and strength. And in the article of death, when all the 
living fail us, each of us can look for sympathy and support 
to him who was dead, and is alive again, and, like Stephen, 
cry, ''Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." 

The Epistle to the Hebrews breathes hope and consola- 



39^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



tion to the weary and the tempted. It rises, too, to the 
height of a great argument for the divine origin of Chris- 
tianity. It discloses the wonderful perfection of our re- 
ligion. There is, in the infinite power, purity, and sym- 
pathy of Christ, that which satisfies our weary human hearts, 
as the sunlight delights and satisfies the eye. The Bible 
is a self-illuminated book. The light of infinite love 
gleams from its pages. The heavens declare the glory of 
God. Christ reveals the mercy and compassion of the 
Father of all. It is not more true that there is one God 
than that there is one Mediator between God and men, 
the man Christ Jesus. 

Seeing, then, that we have a great High Priest, that is 
passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold 
fast our profession. 




■^ 



•^"^ '"'?-'?.-/, 



7^'-^-^^ ^^t^-t^cf^ 







JAMES S. LAMAR. 



'T^HE subje6l of this sketch was born in Gwinnett County, Georgia, 
-■' May 1 8, 1829. He was soon after removed to Muscogee County, 
(then newly settled,) where he was brought up amid the surroundings 
and under the educational disadvantages peculiar to a new country. He 
acquired, however, an early fondness for learning, and managed, at the 
age of seventeen, to enter an academy, where was laid the foundation of 
a good education. In 1850, he was admitted to the bar in the city of 
Columbus, but, being providentially introduced, about that time, to a 
knowledge of the primitive Gospel, and baptized, upon a profession of 
his faith, by an enlightened Baptist preacher, who did not require him 
to go before the Church, or to narrate an experience, and who consid- 
ered the example of Philip and the eunuch as a sufficient authority, he 
was so deeply impressed by the simplicity and beauty, and, above all, 
the importance of the primitive Gospel, that he was earnestly desirous of 
devoting his life to the ministry. But he was all alone, having no Church, 
no fellowship, no Christian sympathy in his community. Besides, he was 
not willing to assume the responsibility of preaching without a finished 
education, and a regular appointment to the work. But all these obstacles 
were happily removed. By the kindness of friends, he was enabled to 
enter Bethany College, in January, 1853, where he was graduated in July, 
1854, and ordained, about the same time, in the Bethany Church, as an 
Evangelist. Soon afterward he was called to the church in Augusta, where, 
with one brief intermission, he has been ever since. 

In 1859, ^^ published a work entitled "The Organon of Scripture; or, 
the Induftive Method of Biblical Interpretation." This work is written 
in an easy and graceful style, and is a very creditable produftion for one 
so young to write. If, however, he had spent several more years in per- 
fefting it, the work would, doubtless, have been of much greater value. 
As it is, it is worthy of careful study, and certainly encourages us to hope 
that the author will not let his pen remain idle. 

Brother Lamar has a beautiful mind. He is incapable of any thing 

(399) 



400 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



uncouth or vulgar. His thoughts are chaste and fresh, and always ex- 
pressed in a polished, forcible style. He is a hard student, but reads a 
very sele6l library. He seeks for perfedlion in every thing, and, conse- 
quently, his literary labors are always carefully performed. 

As a speaker, he is clear, pointed, earnest, and impressive. He is very 
choice in his seleftion of words, and generally says the right thing in the 
right way. He has scarcely enough passion for an orator, and his voice, 
though well modulated, and perfeftly under his control, has not sufficient 
volume for fine effedl. His gesticulation is graceful, and his manner pleas- 
ing, but his preaching is better adapted to a seleft audience than the masses. 
He is an excellent pastor, but does not succeed so well as an Evangelist. 



THE HISTORY OF REDEMPTION REPRO- 
DUCED IN THE REDEEMED 



BY J. S. LAMAR. 



'*How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know 
ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were bap- 
tized into his death ? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into 
death ; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of 
the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we 
have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also 
in the likeness of his resurre6lion : knowing this, that our old man is cruci- 
fied with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth 
we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin." — Rom. 
vi : 2-7. 

THE leading doc5lrine taught In this Scripture, and 
which it shall be my obje6l, in the present discourse, 
to prove and illustrate, may be summed up in a single 
proposition, namely: 'That what the Lord did and suffered 
in order to enter into his glory ^ must^ in some sense, he done and 
suffered by every one who is to participate in that glory. 

Before entering upon the argument and elucidation of 
this proposition, it may be well to remark that it embraces 
the whole of duty and salvation. There is nothing for 
us to do or bear that is not exemplified in the history of 
our Great Captain and Leader. At the same time, it is 
important to remember that, in seeking to follow his ex- 
26 (401) 



402 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



ample, we are not to commence with his birth, or baptism, 
or temptation, or any of the labors of his adive life. All 
these we pass by, and begin with the last scenes JirsL And 
it is not until after we have followed him through all these, 
and been made thus the sons of God ; not until we can 
say, " Christ liveth in us," that we can begin to live the 
life of Christ, or hope to imitate the example of that life. 
Hence the Scripture from which we shall draw our dis- 
course, points us to the last events of his earthly career 
as the first for our imitation, thus teaching us that if we 
would be "glorified together" with him, we must, first of 
all, re-ena5i the history out of which his glory sprung, A part 
of this history is implied, and a part is expressed, in the 
text. Let us refer to it in its regular order, and make 
the application as we proceed. 

It was just after Judas had gone out to betray him, that 
he exclaimed, with triumphant exultation : " Now is the 
Son of Man glorified ;" by which he doubtless meant that 
he was now about to enter upon those sufferings for which 
he was to be crowned with glory and honor. But so 
completely was his heart enraptured by the blessedness 
beyond, that he overlooked or disregarded the interven- 
ing sorrows of the Garden, the pains of Calvary, and the 
darkness of the tomb. And yet it was out of these the 
glory was to arise, and for these the crown was to be con- 
ferred. And is it not true of every man, that, when 
heaven is, first of all, appreciated, and its holiness per- 
ceived to be the chief good ; and when the freeness and 
fullness of Gospel promises give assurance that all may 
be his, he forgets the crucifixion and burial, which must 
necessarily antedate his resurredion to life and bliss, and 
learns, not till afterward, that no man can reach the Crown 
without first coming to the Cross ; and that no man will 



J. S. LAMAR. 403 



come to the Cross who has not first passed through the 
Garden ? 

It is the teaching of revelation, confirmed by every 
Christian's experience, that he who comes to Christ has 
previously felt "weary and heavy-laden ;" has realized the 
agony of sin ; his soul has been made exceeding sorrow- 
ful — the "godly sorrow for sin which worketh repent- 
ance." And how often has such a man retired into the 
darkness, to struggle with his burden, and to pray all 
alone ; and so, " pierced to J:he heart," weeping, and in 
anguish, and, doubtless, strengthened in his weakness by 
some messenger of God, he comes at last to say, nay to 
desire, "Thy will, O God, be done?" Thus he "learns 
obedience by the things which he suffers." He realizes 
the necessity for it. His own misery teaches him the con- 
sequences of sin, and he determines henceforth to obey; 
and from his heart he cries, " Lord, what wilt thou have 
me to do ?" It is then, in the hour of darkness, and tears, 
and agony, that he gives the first solemn pledge to God, 
to be, to do, and to suffer all that he wills. 

When such a man hears the command, " Follow the 
Lord Jesus," he will not be careful to analyze it into 
its external and internal elements, nor to test it by some 
alchemy of human philosophy, to see whether it be essen- 
tial or non-essential ; enough for him that it is the voice 
of God. Hence, he goes boldly forward. It may be in 
the presence of scoffers and infidels ; he cares not. He 
has a settled purpose that he will identify himself with 
Jesus Christ, and confess with his mouth the confidence 
he has in him; and he does it, rejoicing that he is per- 
mitted, even in this, to imitate him "who, before Pontius 
Pilate, witnessed a good confession." 

But it should not be forgotten that, though this is "the 



404 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



good confession/' and though " with the mouth confession 
is made unto salvation," it can only result in this blessing 
when the subsequent condud: is consistent with it. If we 
pause with the bare profession with the mouth, it is but lip 
service ; and hence, while the Savior has graciously prom- 
ised to confess those before his Father who confess him 
before men, he does not fail to warn us that many call 
him Lord who do not obey him as Lord; by which he would 
teach us that the confession which secures salvation is one 
which ultimates in obedience. All would be willing to be 
Christians in name, doubtless, if they might be allowed 
to live on in the lusts of the flesh and the pride of life; 
but the plain intimation of the text, and which perfedly 
accords with the example of the Savior, is, that this con- 
fession necessitates death; and just here is, for most men, 
*' the stone of stumbling and rock of offense." They are 
willing to pronounce eloquent, and, it may be, heartfelt 
panegyrics upon the Cross of Christ. They can speak in 
melting tones of Calvary, and point to the '' marred vis- 
age " of the Crucified with evident emotion. > They can 
tell us, too, in well-sele6led phrase, of the infinite merits 
of that atoning sacrifice, sufiicient to take away the sins 
of the whole world ; but they are slow to learn that, as a 
matter of fad, it really does take away the sins of those 
only — not who admire him — but who are ^^ crucified with 
him'' 

" Take up thy cross^'' says the Savior, " and follow me." 
How prone we are to explain away this "cross," by mak- 
ing it no more than some public confession, some speak- 
ing or praying before men, or the performance of some 
other duty that is simply disagreeable, as though it were 
the symbol of mere embarrassment, or as though Chris- 
tianity held modesty as sin, and self-distrust at discount. 



J. S. LAMAR. 405 



No ; the word means death, as is explained by the passage, 
which says: ''Whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; 
and whosoever will lose his life for my sake, shall find it.'* 
And certainly this means that only he who loses his life 
shall find it ; or that the old life must be destroyed before 
the new can be superinduced. 

A point so important and so practical deserves a fuller 
illustration. Let me quote, then, some passages from the 
epistles, which will settle the matter, as I think, beyond 
question : "Our old man is crucified with him, that hence- 
forth we should not serve sin ; for he that is dead is freed 
from sin." But suppose he is not dead ! " If Christ be 
in you, the body is dead because of sin." " I am crucified 
with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ 
liveth in me." 

How this illustrates the words of the Savior ! The 
Apostle took his cross, was crucified, " lost his life," and, 
according to the promise, " found it." But he does not 
hold his case as peculiar, for he says : " They that are 
Christ's" — /. e., all that are Christ's — " have crucified the 
flesh with the passions and lusts." Certainly, then, they 
that have not done so are not Christ's. It is, therefore, 
"a faithful saying; for, if we be dead with him, we shall also 
live with him." 

I presume, of course, that no one will understand these 
Scriptures to refer to a striftly literal "death" and "cru- 
cifixion." But let us beware. Because they are not lit- 
eral, it does not follow that they are not real. We have 
no right to set aside the included, veritable truth, because 
it happens to be presented enveloped in a figurative ex- 
pression. Hence, it is certain that "he that lives in pleas- 
ure ;" he that is alive to the world, to the lusts of his flesh, 
to his carnal passions, can not be said to be dead or cruci- 



4o6 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



fied with Christ, or to have " put off the old man with his 
deeds." 

But even this "crucifixion" — this "death to sin " — to 
the flesh, and to the world, is not all. That would, in- 
deed, be a very inadequate exhibition of Christianity which 
should leave us with a dead Savior^ and ourselves merely 
as dead to sin, but not alive unto God. We can not pause 
with the crucifixion, therefore, without losing the very 
blessing for which it was endured. It is a part of the 
Gospel of salvation, not only that "he died for our sins," 
but that " he was buried.'' In this, too, as in all things, 
it is our exalted privilege to follow him, to be " buried 
with him.'' But what can this mean ? How are we buried 
with him } On this question, there might have been room 
for doubt and perplexity, if the Scriptures had not been 
so explicit in furnishing a solution. As the death to sin 
is not striftly a //VdT^/ death, it might have been thought — 
if we had been left to our own reasonings — that the "bu- 
rial " is not a literal burial, but, may be, some monkish 
retirement from the world, a "burial" in the caves or dens 
of the earth ; or that, possibly, it has some " spiritual," 
and, of course, indefinite sense, such as fanaticism has 
dilated for so many other requirements of the Scriptures. 
Happily, however, we are not left in doubt. A word is 
added which relieves the matter of all uncertainty, and for- 
bids us giving any other explanation: "We are buried with 
him by baptism!' This is, then, the only way in which we 
can be buried with him, and any explanation which leaves 
out this adl of burial, is sheer infidelity. God has spoken 
in the premises: let all the earth keep silent before him. 

Another question, however, may arise here, and that is: 
The meaning being settled, is it necessary that we should 
be thus buried with him? To which we simply respond: 



J. S. LAMAR. 407 



ne new life emerges from the tomb! The Savior did not 
rise from the cross ^ but from the grave! These are fads 
which no logic can ratiocinate out of existence. They con- 
stitute a living demonstration that Christianity contem- 
plates not simply life from the dead, but life from the 
tomb; and, at the same time, they confirm the assurance 
that those who have been crucified and buried with him, 
shall r'lst from their burial, to walk in newness of life with 
him. 

Again, let us see what the 'Scriptures say upon the sub- 
je6l: ''^Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into 
death; that, like as Christ was raised up from the dead by 
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in 
newness of life." If, now, the question be, why the burial, 
the answer is given, ^^ therefore we are buried" — for this 
very reason — with this identical objed in view — that we 
may walk in newness of life. The one is the natural an- 
tecedent of the other; nay, the one is clearly conditional o{ 
the other. Once more: ''Buried with him by baptism, 
wherein also ye are risen with him." The apostle imme- 
diately proceeds to address these parties as those that are 
"risen with Christ," and tells them, ''ye have put off the 
old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man." 
As much as to say (what, indeed, he did say in other places), 
"As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have 
put on Christ; " and, "if any man be in Christ, he is a new 
creature." With what clearness and force do these pas- 
sages illustrate and confirm the do6lrine of the text, viz., 
that "our old man is crucified" — "dead with Christ" — 
"dead unto sin;" that, as such, it is "buried with him 
by baptism " — " planted in the likeness of his death ; " and 
that from this baptismal burial we are "raised up" to 
"walk in newness of life;" the "old man," still "dead, 



4o8 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



indeed, unto sin," but the "new man" evermore ''alive 
unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." And hence 
the appositeness of the conclusion, "yield yourselves unto 
God as those that are alive from the dead^ 

We have now followed the Great Captain of our salva- 
tion through death, and burial, and resurredion — coming, 
thus, into the enjoyment and manifestation of a new and 
spiritual life. "I live, yet not I, but Christ, liveth in 
me; and the life which I now live, I live by the faith 
of the Son of God." "If Christ be in us, the body is 
dead because of sin, but the spirit is life, because of right- 
eousness." If we, then, be risen with Christ, if he is our 
life, while our old dead body may remain upon the earth, 
the spirit, the heart, the affecSlions, must ascend with him. 
In this sense, "we have come to the heavenly Jerusalem, 
to an innumerable company of angels, to the spirits of just 
men made perfed, and to God, the Judge of all." "Our 
citizenship is in heaven; " we are no longer of the world; 
our heart, and life, and home, and treasures are all above, 
laid up secure, beyond the reach of corruption or danger. 

And, finally, we are glorified with him. This is the ter- 
minus ad quem of all the past. Yes, we are glorified, though 
still encompassed with infirmity, and walking through great 
tribulation, subjedls of toil, and sorrow, and pain, and 
tears; for "whom he justified, them he r\so g lor if ed.'' In 
one sense, certainly, this glory is still future. And in this 
view, we joyfully "suffer with him that we may be also glo- 
rified together." We are, in this resped, like the Savior 
in his humiliation — our glory is not manifested. We are liv- 
ing his divine life, we partake of his divine nature, we are 
filled with his divine Spirit; but "the world knoweth us 
not, even as it knew him not." It is "the manifestation 
of the sons of God," for which the "earnest expedation 



J. S. LAMAR. 409 



of the creature waiteth; " and this is not the impartation of 
glory, but the ^^ revelation of the glory that is in us." Con- 
sequently, the Christian, having reproduced the great fa^i 
of redemption in his conversion to Christ, is now remanded 
to the example of Christ' s life upon the earthy to reproduce 
that, in order to his final glorification. In other words, 
being made a son of God, he is now to lead the life of the 
Son of God upon the earth. 

It will be observed that this is not, as in the former case, 
to be done m particulars, but in generals. Ours is to be, 
like his, a life of love and mercy; of gentleness and for- 
giveness; of prayer and humility: of labor for the good 
of others; and, in one word, of self-sacrifice for the salva- 
tion of the world. Such a life will be continually blessed 
by the presence and grace of God; and, in closing such a 
career, we shall, like our glorious leader, simply "lay 
down" the divine "life" which is in us, to be taken again. 
We shall, of course, go with him once more to the tomb, 
but we can now look forward to that broken prison without 
a fear, knowing that "if the Spirit of him that raised up 
Jesus from the dead dwell in us, he that raised up Christ 
from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies by his 
Spirit that dwelleth in us." And after this — beyond the 
resurredlion — "it doth not yet appear what we shall be, 
but we know that we shall be like him ; " " we shall be glor- 
ified together" — "manifested" to the universe as the "sons 
of God; " and if sons, then heirs, "heirs of God and joint 
heirs with Christ." 

Such, in brief, is the wonderful scheme of salvation. It 
is simply being with Christ, from first to last, from the 
darkness to the glory. But OI it must needs be, if we 
are with him, that he also is with us; with us in our exceed- 
ing sorrow for sin; with us in the good confession; the 



4IO THE LIVING PULPIT. 



shame and derision; the crucifixion and burial; with us, 
aye, in us, in the resurredion ; and with us and in us ever- 
more, in all our toils, and temptations, and sufferings, and 
tears. Yea, though we walk through the valley of the 
shadow of death, we will fear no evil, for still he is with 
us. And beyond the grave, in the glorious world of im- 
mortal life, where the Savior reigns the exalted Lord and 
Christ, the prayer which he breathed in the days of his 
humiliation is still heard and answered: *^ Father, I will 
that they also whom thou hast given me he with me where 
I amy O, blessed consummation! This is the fruition 
of all hope, the reward of all labor, the satisfaction of all 
desire, the very fullness of the blessing of the Gospel of 
Christ — " Ever with the Lord !" 




'L ^^5^ ,^iyL6o^y , 



cy^^^z^^C /v ^- 



t W. Carroll «<. Go 



DAVID WALK. 



T^AVID WALK was born, December 9, 1833, ^^ Reading, a subur- 
•*^ ban village of Cincinnati. In early life he united with the Metho- 
dist Episcopal Church, and, in his nineteenth year, was licensed by that 
body to preach, and entered upon the work of the ministry. He continued 
his ministerial labors in the Methodist Church for nearly nine years, but, 
having read and reflefled much on his church relations, and being convinced 
that his religious position was not in harmony with the Word of God, he 
resigned his pastoral charge, withdrew from the Methodist Church, and 
was immersed — all the same day — in Cincinnati, January 3, 1862, by Ben- 
jamin Franklin. He claims to be more indebted to Brother Franklin 
for his present position than to any other man, and remembers, with the 
liveliest gratitude, the many expressions of kindness received from him. 

Soon after his immersion. Brother Walk began to labor in the general 
field, and spent about three years traveling and preaching in some dozen 
States, reaching from Central Pennsylvania to beyond the Mississippi River; 
and, as an evidence of the amount of work done by him while thus engaged, 
it may be stated that he traveled, in one year, seven thousand miles, and 
preached three hundred and ninety-five sermons, besides the other labors 
that naturally devolve on an evangelist. During the three years spent in 
this way, he was instrumental in doing great good in many places : the 
weak churches were strengthened, while a considerable number of sinners 
were turned to the Lord. 

Since he ceased to travel as an evangelist, he has been, and is now, pas- 
tor of the Christian Church in Paris, Kentucky, where his labors have been 
greatly blessed. He has been there not quite three years, and, during that 
time, the Church has more than doubled its membership, and has become 
one of the most aftive and influential churches in Kentucky. 

Brother Walk is full six feet high, has perfeft health, great physical 
strength and powers of endurance, dark hair and eyes, and all the features 
of the face are strongly marked. As a speaker, he is logical, pointed, and 
forcible. He states his points well, and presents his arguments in a clear 

C4") 



412 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



light. You can scarcely fail to understand him. He has had three public 
discussions, in which he is said to have been very successful. 

Though not a graduate of any college, his scholarship is, nevertheless, 
quite respeftable. His literary attainments are very considerable, and his 
appreciation of the beautiful in composition both aftive and discriminating. 
He has written some for the periodicals of the brotherhood, in which he 
has shown that he can wield a ready and forcible pen. Every thing that 
he says and writes clearly marks him as an original, vigorous thinker — one 
. who is not satisfied with a view of the surface of things. He is a diligent 
student, and prepares his discourses with great care. He never goes into 
the pulpit without first having well matured the subjedl upon which he is 
to speak. 

While he has been a successful evangelist, he has shown more fitness 
for pastoral work. He takes special delight in this kind of labor, and has 
certainly shown himself "a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." 
As a pastor, his success is largely owing to his constant attention to the 
wants of the flock. He is industrious and vigilant, and to these necessary 
qualifications of a successful pastor, he adds good administrative talents; 
hence, if he does not win the affedlions of the people so readily as some 
men by heart-power, he compels respeft by will-power and the force of an 
example of devotion to his work. 



DEATH AND LIFE. 



BY DAVID WALK. 



" The law of the Spirit of life, in Christ Jesus, hath made me free from 
the law of sin and death." — Rom. viii : 2. 

LAW and government are necessary conditions of 
man's existence. Man is naturally a subjed of law. 
Whether he will or not, he is compelled to yield to its 
imperious behests. This is true, both of his moral and 
physical constitution. If man refuses to yield to the law 
of physical necessity, he will die physically ; and, failing 
to obey the law of his moral nature, he will die morally. 
Man, then, must ever be viewed as the subjecfl of law; for, 
when God made him, he placed him under its dominion. 
As to his physical nature, a constant supply of nutri- 
tious food is the law of its existence; and, as it respeds 
his moral nature, perfect obedience to the will of his Cre- 
ator is the law of its existence. Nor is it legitimate to 
raise the purely speculative question why it is so. For 
all pradiical purposes, it is sufficient for us to know that 
it is so. God, who made man, ordained that it should be 
so. It is impossible to conceive what our condition would 
have been under any other circumstances than those in 
which it has pleased God to place us. I am here. I did 
not bring myself here. I am subjed to law. I did not 

(413) 



414 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



make the law. Be the law good or bad, I can not change 
it. Crediting revelation, I conclude that God made me. 
I am distindly conscious that I did not make myself. 
Nay, I know that I did not make myself. But I exist ; 
therefore, I believe that God caused me to exist. Now, 
he who made me chose that I should be the subjed of 
law; he chose that I should be amenable to the author- 
ity of moral and physical government. At least, I know 
myself to be subjed to such dual government. But it is 
no part of my present purpose to consider the question 
of physical law, and I must not, therefore, suffer myself 
to be betrayed into that which is irrelevant. Thus far, 
I have referred to it simply for the sake of illustration ; 
simply to show that, from the very nature and constitu- 
tion of his being, man is a subjed of law. The range of 
my present discourse, therefore, will not include any ques- 
tion of physical law as bearing upon man's present exist- 
ence. But the two laws of which I propose to speak are, 
jirst^ The Law of Death ; and secondly^ The Law of Life. 
In the text, these laws are contrasted. The one minis- 
ters death, the other life. 

When God made man, he placed him under a specific 
law. For the violation of that law, the penalty was death. 
Hence, it is called the law of death. The laws of death 
and life were originally symbolized by two trees which 
grew in the Garden of Eden. The one was the tree of 
the knowledge of good and evil; and this tree stands de- 
cidedly in the foreground of the pidure. Observe, it was 
not the tree of good and evil, but the tree of the knowl- 
edge of good and evil. It only remains to be mentioned 
that the other was the tree of life. 

All we know of these two trees is, that if a man par- 
took of the fruit of the one, he immediately became cog- 



DAVID WALK. 415 



nizant of the quality of moral adions ; that is, he Imme- 
diately became conscious of a difference in moral adions. 
He at once perceived that some aftions are good, and 
some bad. Had man not eaten the fruit of this tree, he 
would not have known that such difference existed ; there- 
fore, to him all adions would be alike. Being ignorant 
of this difference, he would not have been, as he other- 
wise became, obnoxious to the penalty of the law. 

The extent of our knowledge concerning the other tree 
is, that if a man partook of it» fruit, he would live for- 
ever, independent of either moral or physical consider- 
ations. That is, whether his moral nature were good or 
bad. If he ate the fruit of this tree, the effed would be to 
render him immortal. The one tree, then, symbolizes the 
principle of death ; the other, the principle of life. 

Now, according to the laws governing here, respedlvely, 
the moment that man partook of the fruit of either tree, 
that moment he experienced the blessing or the curse in- 
herent in that ad. If of the tree of the knowledge of 
good and evil, death ; If of the tree of life, life. 

I can not be obnoxious to the penalties of a moral law 
of whose existence I am unconscious. I will not, hence, 
groan ; because. In such a case, I will not be burdened 
with a knowledge of the penalties of a law which I have 
unconsciously violated, and to whose penalties I do not 
know myself to be obnoxious. Consequently, though 
Adam was susceptible of death, yet, as he did not know 
it, his perfed happiness and tranquillity would remain un- 
impaired. It was not till this knowledge formed a part 
of his own experience, that he became wretched and un- 
happy. 

Now, this is precisely the condition of all his descend- 
ants before they arrive at the years of accountability. 



41 6 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



They are free from any moral exercises concerning tne 
stupendous interests of life and death, for the simple rea- 
son that they are unconscious of any laws regulating those 
questions. True, all the posterity of Adam die ; but this 
is exactly the penalty which they have inherited in conse- 
quence of the disobedience of their federal head. 

Death was to Adam the remote, and not the dired: con- 
sequence of sin. Had he gained access to the tree of life, 
he would have lived in spite of his sin. Sin could not, of 
itself, kill the body. It could, and did, poison the fount- 
ain of spiritual life, and kill the moral nature of our first 
parents ; but after this, it could do no more. When, there- 
fore, I speak of death as the consequence of sin, I mean 
that it is the remote, and not the dired: consequence. If 
one man could live forever in a state of sin, so could every 
other man under the same circumstances. It is folly, then, 
to inquire what kind oi death God meant Adam should die 
in consequence of his disobedience^ for there was but one death 
that such a cause could produce, namely, the death of the 
soul. And, while physical death is set down as the re- 
mote consequence of Adam's sin, it by no means follows 
that all who die physically are, by inheritance, sinners. 
Adam became m'ortal only because God withheld from 
him the means of perpetuating his life, and not because he 
sinned. This mortality we have inherited. An immortal- 
ity of physical existence was the precise thing we lost in 
our illustrious progenitor; and an immortality of bliss, as 
it respeds the whole man, is what we gain in Christ. The 
certainty of physical death to all his descendants is the 
one necessary consequence of Adam's transgression, and 
that, too, independent of all moral considerations; and the 
certainty of a resurrection from this death, also independ- 



DAVID WALK. 417 



ent of all moral considerations, is the one thing which we 
gain in Christ. 

As for the rest, Adam could sin, and we can sin; nor 
can I see any difference between his condition and ours, as 
it respeds this question. Paul says, that ''^ as in Adam all 
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." The fad: 
and the promise are alike unlimited in their application. 
Here is the truth in few words: Independent of our own 
volitions, and irrespective of moral considerations, we die 
because Adam died, and on precisely the same terms we 
shall all be made alive in Christ. 

All men shall gain through Christ that which they lost 
in Adam. In Adam they all, independent of their own vo- 
litions, lost life; and through Christ they all, independent 
of their own volitions, find the life thus lost. If they lost 
spiritual life in Adam, they will find it in Christ; and if 
they lost physical life in Adam, they will find it in Christ. 
In short, whatever man lost in Adam, independent of his 
own volitions, he will, in like manner, find in Christ. 

If you assume the orthodox hypothesis, that we all died 
spiritually in Adam — that we are sinners because Adam 
sinned — then I will assume the apostolic hypothesis, that 
the precise thing which we lost in Adam, we shall find in 
Christ. If all die spiritually in Adam, all will live spirit- 
ually in Christ; and if all die physically in Adam, all will 
be made alive physically through Christ. Till man sins, 
he is just such a being, morally, as Adam was before he 
sinned. Sin is the transgression of the law: but where 
there is no law, there is no transgression, and hence, of 
course, no knowledge of sin. Unconscious infants are 
not amenable to moral law; they are not cognizant of its 
existence; they can not infrad it; they are not, therefore, 
obnoxious to its penalties. But they lose the animal life 
27 



41 8 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



in Adam without volition; they find it in Christ without 
volition: they are, hence, fully reinstated in all that they 
lost. 

We must not be guilty of the error of confounding ani- 
mal life with spiritual life, and, as a consequence, physical 
law with spiritual law. Man comes into a state where cer- 
tain moral and physical forces are in operation. The moral 
he can control, the physical he can not. As a result of these 
uncontrollable forces, he suffers certain inconveniences, and 
finally death. But, for these inconveniences and death, am- 
ple and satisfying restitution is made. The child, grown 
to the years of what is called moral accountability, can 
control and shape his spiritual interests. He may make 
the best or worst of men. But, no matter how virtuous 
or vicious he may now be, he can not control the physical 
forces that doom him to decay and death. Therefore, 
Paul observes : " Until the law " (that is, until the law was 
written out by Moses) "sin was in the world; but sin is 
not imputed'* (is not charged) "where there is no law. 
Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even 
over those who had not sinned after the similitude (in the 
likeness, in the same manner that Adam sinned ; /. e,^ by 
violating a known law) of Adam's transgression." 

This law was not published; did not become a part of 
the world's code — or, rather, did not become the code — 
for twenty-five hundred years after Adam sinned ; but all 
this time people continued to die who had not sinned as 
he did. They found themselves, whether they knew the 
reason why or not, obnoxious to the penalty of a law that 
had been enaded when man was created — a law coeval with 
his existence — but a law that had not yet been published. 

After the long lapse of two thousand five hundred years, 
God commissioned Moses to write out that law in all its 



DAVID WALK. 419 



details, that the people themselves might be placed in pos- 
session of THE REASONS WHY they Were subjeded to suf- 
fering and death, and why they were unable, in any de- 
gree, to control the evil circumstances by which they were 
surrounded. 

Now, after this law was set forth in all its minutiae, and 
its binding force and obligations in all the departments of 
life fully pointed out, what results followed ? Was their 
condition improved ? Not at all. Why, then, was the 
law given ? What good purpose could it subserve? To 
these questions, I desire to return a specific answer. It 
is this : In this law, they had a full development of all 
that was typified by that tree whose fruit opened Adam's 
eyes, and enabled him to see the difference between good 
and evil. That was all. The law showed them their lost 
and ruined condition ; but it was powerless to put forth 
its arm and save them. The law, then, when published, 
stood to the people in precisely the same relation that the 
tree, after the transgression, stood to Adam. It showed 
them their sins, but provided no remedy. Or, in other- 
words, the law did for the people what the eating of the 
fruit did for Adam — it showed them the difference between 
good and evil. Without the law, entering, as it did, into all 
the ramifications, and aflfefting, as it did, all the relations 
of life, they could never have known what sin was. The 
law itself was not sin, though it is called the law of sin. 
It was not death, though called the law of death. 

As the tree, of whose fruit Adam partook, is not called 
the tree of good or evil, but the tree of the knowledge of 
good and evil, so this law, while it is neither sin nor death, 
brings to our minds a knowledge of sin and death. For 
this reason, primarily, the law was given. But, in addi- 
tion to this primary reason, and intimately conneded with 



420 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



it, the law had in view an ulterior objed. Without the 
knowledge of sin, which it was the primary objed: of the 
law to impart, the ulterior objedl of the law would never 
be gained. In brief, without being able to see the exceed- 
ing sinfulness of sin, without a plain demonstration of 
our utter inability to keep the law under which we are 
placed, we never will accept the mediation of the Lord 
Jesus Christ. The law, then, did not introduce sin ; it 
only discovered it. The law simply unveiled sin, and 
showed us the putrid carcass to which we were chained, 
without, by any possibility, being able to extricate our- 
selves. It now proposes, having showed us our sins, to 
take us by the hand and lead us to him who has power to 
redeem us from their thralldom. 

A beam of light, admitted into a room, shows us thou- 
sands of motes. But these motes were not introduced by 
the light ; they were in the room previously, only there 
was not sufficient light to make them manifest. Thus, 
the law showed man his depravity — showed him how all 
flesh had corrupted itself before God. Sin was in the 
world ; but, without the law, men could not see it. Hence, 
Paul says : " I was alive without the law once : but when 
the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." 

Unless a man be first killed by the law, he will not seek 
to be made alive in Christ. The law, then, was given, 
jirst^ to show us our sins — to slay us; and, secondly^ to lead 
us to Christ. *' Therefore,'* says Paul, " the law was our 
pedagogue to bring us to Christ." The reasoning of this 
apostle enables us to see still further the practical oper- 
ations of the law. " We know that the law is spiritual." 
It takes cognizance of the spiritual nature; it sits in judg- 
ment upon spiritual adions ; it appertains to the spirit. 
" But I am carnal, sold under sin." I am the slave of 



DAVID WALK. 42 1 



sin. The law is so pure and holy ; it points out so many 
tempers, adions, affedions, as sinful, that I would not 
else have known to be such, that by it I am bound, en- 
slaved, and slain. '' For I know that in me (that is, in 
my fiesh) dwelleth no good thing." How careful he is 
to use the limiting clause, '' in my flesh !" Why did he 
not decry against the sins which his soul had inherited from 
Adam ? Because the assumption would have been false. 
Sin is an ad: ; and Paul knew that an ad of the body, or 
a volition of the mind, could' not be transmitted or inher- 
ited. Paul knew that, like Adam, he became a sinner 
when he -sinned, " O wretched man that I am ! Who 
shall deliver me from this dead body ? I thank God that 
I shall be delivered through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
" There is, therefore, now no condemnation to those who 
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after 
the Spirit." Why is there now no condemnation ? Be- 
cause '' the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath 
made me free from the law of sin and death." Here we 
reach the second law — the law of life. We talk about the 
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, till we forget that 
there was another tree in the Garden — the ^ree of life. 
The first is the prototype of the law ; the second, of the 
Gospel. The law of sin and death was the development 
of the one ; the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus 
is the development of the other. The fruit of the one 
kills ; the fruit of the other gives life, and its leaves are 
for the healing of the nations. 

Let us reverently look at this tree of life. Adam's 
posterity, as we have seen, without any volition of their 
own, were subjeded to a law that ministered sin and death. 
The name of this law is justice. But, that God might be 
just while he justifies, he enads another law. The name 



422 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



of this law is mercy. The provisions of the former are 
all just; of the latter, all merciful. Through the latter 
the righteousness of the former is fulfilled in those whom 
else it had slain. The law of mercy dishonors not, but 
rather magnifies the law of justice. Thus justice and 
mercy hold the scales of Divine government in equipoise. 
Much time has been wasted in a mere logomachy as to 
what God meant by death. ''In the day that thou eatest 
thereof thou shalt surely die." This confusion might be 
avoided, and the exad truth elicited, by considering the 
terms of the law, and noting just what was done when it was 
violated. In imagination we will place ourselves in the Gar- 
den. We hear the law from the lips of God, and we will sup- 
pose that we know the meaning of every word, with a single 
exception. That exception is the word death. We never 
heard this word before, and to us it conveys no meaning. 
We understand the prohibition, but as to the punishment 
threatened — if, indeed, we can understand it as punishment 
at all — we know nothing. Upon this latter we have the 
serpent's comment; but, in his view, it is something to 
be coveted rather than shunned. With intense anxiety 
we wait the issue. Presently we see the man take the fruit 
and eat it. He does the very thing that God commanded 
he should not do. A clearer instance of disobedience the 
world can not furnish. An issue was never more fairly 
made. Let it now be settled that God meant what he said, 
and performed what he threatened. Whatever he does, 
then, in the premises, will be his meaning of death. What, 
now, does God do ? Does he inflid death upon Adam in 
the common acceptation of the word? He does not; for 
Adam lived more than nine hundred years after this day. 
What, then, I again inquire, does God do? He drives the 
man from his presence, and hides his face from him. This, 



DAVID WALK. 423 



then, Is God's meaning of death. And this is death. Nay, 
this is hell! A deep and impassable gulf has been made 
between God and man. That gulf must be bridged, or 
man is lost to all eternity. And now, as God whispers 
one word of hope to his fallen child, he summons a cohort 
of cherubim to guard the way of the tree of life. And 
there those cherubim stood for four thousand years. iVnd 
for four thousand years no mortal had access to that tree. 
Not till the weight of the law's dread penalty fell upon the 
head of the Beloved did those watchful spirits take their 
flight, and leave the way to the tree of life open to all the 
world. Adam was driven forth from the presence of the 
Lord. He bore in his heart a deep sense of his sin, and 
the consequent condemnation. Now, when a man hears 
the law, understands the law, and then knowingly violates 
it, he becomes, from that moment, obnoxious to its pen- 
alty. In that moment of sin he dies; dies just as Adam 
died. But, unlike Adam, no shining ranks of cherubim 
interpose between the sinner of to-day and the tree of life. 
Thanks be to God for the unspeakable gift ! 

I sum up, then, as follows: The moral law of God, 
under which we are all placed, requires true holiness and 
perfed obedience. But man, in his fallen condition, can 
not meet these requirements. What, then, is to be done? 
At this precise point, the law of the spirit of life in Christ 
Jesus stretches forth its omnipotent arm. This law, or, 
to speak more stridly, the dispensation of which this is 
the law, presents a Sacrifice who evaded not a jot or point 
of the law that had been dishonored. He kept that law 
perfe6lly, that he might become the Savior of man, who 
could not keep it. And as man never would, in this 
world, be able to keep it, Christ made provision for his 
escape from its penalties, whether he came to Him as a be- 



424 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



lleving, penitent alien, or as one of His own erring children. 
And now Christ, our righteousness, through the system 
of pardon, presents man with a new and living way, through 
the rent vail of his flesh. That law killed our sacrifice — 
who suffered without help from God, or angels, or men — 
just as it would have killed us all but for his mediation. 

Our gain and our victory consist, then, in this glorious 
fad: that Jesus Christ, our Sacrifice, although he suffered 
the full penalty of the law, finally triumphed over the 
grave. And now, having risen from the dead, and being 
clothed with all authority in heaven and on earth, he de- 
clares, with immense significance: "I am the way, the 
TRUTH, and the life. No man cometh to the Father (from 
whom he had, by transgression, been driven) except 
through me." Let man, now, attempt to gain access to 
God through any other medium, and the sharp edge of 
flaming swords, wielded by the strong arm of warrior an- 
gels, will descend upon his head. Just as certain as God's 
throne is immutable, that man who refuses to submit to 
the authority of his Son, is lost forever. True, man has 
naturally no more moral ability now than formerly. He 
is, of himself, as incapable of rendering perfed obedience 
to God now as at any former period of his history. Does 
God, therefore, require less of man now than formerly .f* 
Has he relaxed the rigor of that law under which he orig- 
inally placed him? Is God less holy, or does he demand 
less holiness now than in ancient times? Not at all. To 
all these queries I respond, not at all. The difference — 
the sole difference — consists in this fad: God has accepted 
the obedience of Christ, has accepted the offering which 
he made of himself, that man, through the obedience of 
faith, may be made righteous in Christ Jesus. 

The government has, for the time being, passed into 



DAVID WALK. 425 



the hands of the Son; but while there is a change in gov- 
ernment, there is no change as it resped;ls moral obligations 
to God; unless, indeed, these latter have been heightened. 
Because man is absolved from the slavish observance of 
the law of commandments contained in ordinances — Christ 
having taken them out of the way, nailing them to his cross 
— it by no means follows that he is not now under law. 
There is a vast difference between legal righteousness and 
the righteousness which is by faith. A man, to be legally 
righteous, must be absolutely guiltless in thought, word, 
and deed : but this no man ever was. Nor in the mean- 
time, as has been intimated, has God lowered the tone of 
his moral law. This is impossible, for that law is nothing 
less than a transcript of his own Divine perfedions. But 
now the Lord Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, comes into 
the world to -put away sin by the sacrifice of himself; and 
whoever is washed in his blood is, in the sight of a pure 
and holy God, held to be righteous. Through the me- 
diation of God's dear Son, the righteousness of his law is 
FULFILLED IN US*, and this is done only through obedience 
to the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. This is the 
law which absolves, or makes us free from, the law of sin 
and death; and this is the law under which we are now 
placed. It was first proclaimed by him who alone had au- 
thority to fix upon the terms of man's salvation; by him 
who alone had the right to say what he would accept of man 
now^ in lieu of the perfed obedience and true holiness re- 
quired of him then. This law, as it respeds the alien, is 
set forth in the following words: ^''He that believes^ and is 
immersed^ shall be saved;'' that is, pardoned. This, then, is 
the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. You will ob- 
serve that it is not the law alone, not the Spirit alone, but 
the law of the Spirit of life; and that only as it is in Christ 



426 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Jesus. It, then, derives its sole efficacy from the blood of 
Jesus. But what is the precise thing which obedience to 
this law — for all men can obey the law of pardon — does 
for us? Does it make us adually, literally, free from lia- 
bility to sin, and from spiritual imperfedion ; or does it 
simply free us from all our sins that are past, with the 
promise of grace to help us in time to come? Do we never 
again sin after we yield obedience to this law ? The apostle 
does not say so. What, then, under Christ, is our exad: 
moral status? I judge it to be that of holiness through 
pardon, and not through perfedl obedience to the moral 
law of God. Never in this world will we be free from the 
liability to sin. What, therefore, do we gain? We gain 
the pardon of our sins through the blood of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and absolution from the law of sin and death. 
We no longer groan under a law that contented itself with 
showing us our depravity, while it was unable to save us 
from the curse of sin; a law under which we could be nei- 
ther legally nor spiritually holy ; for, on the one hand, man 
could not render perfect obedience to that law; and, on the 
other, Jesus Christ had not yet appeared to put away sin. 
While the law now, as then, shows us our sins — indeed, 
while it magnifies sin — it, at the same time, shows us how 
we may obtain remission. But are we made free from 
death? Do not men still die? Yes, men still die. What, 
then, is gained ? We are now made free from the law of 
death. That law promised only death. There was no life 
in it. This law not only denounces the judgments of God 
against all unrighteousness, but with this denunciation it 
PROMISES LIFE through the blood of the new and everlast- 
ing covenant. Consequently, t\v^ fear of death is gone. I 
have to die, but I do not fear death. Why do I not fear 
death? Because the Savior has broken its power and ex- 



DAVID WALK. 427 



traded its sting. We are not, then, made free from lia- 
bility to sin ; nor are we made free from death ; but we are 
made free from the law — from th.t dominion — of them both. 
Let me fully illustrate my meaning: You murder a man, 
and thereby violate a law, the penalty of which is death. 
As you are led forth to die, executive clemency interposes 
and pardons you. But are you not a murderer still ? The 
governor's pardon will not enable you to bring back the 
dead. Could you do this, you would not need pardon ; 
you would be legally acquitted:' there would be no law to 
execute you. But the executive can not free you from the 
fa6l of murder, for there lies the lifeless vidlim of your 
hate. He can only pardon you — release you — from the 
/(3W of murder. Mercy triumphs over justice. In all other 
respeds, the governor leaves you as he found you. You 
can not make restitution. An ocean of tears will not wash 
out the stains of the blood which you have shed; time will 
not fade out the damning evidence of your guilt; an eter- 
nity of penitence will not call back the life which you have 
taken. There is but one hope for you; that hope lies in 
pardon, and pardon is just what you receive. Though 
guilty, you are henceforth treated as though you were not 
guilty. The application is easy. As a sinner, I am placed 
under a law which I have violated every hour of my re- 
sponsible life. The penalty of this law is death: "The 
soul that sinneth, it shall die." Now, what shall be done 
to atone for past infractions of this law, though I should 
be able to keep it in the future? It still clamors for my 
Dlood. Pardon is what I want, and pardon — as it respeds 
my past sins — is the one thing which the Savior promises 
me on the sole condition of my becoming obedient to his 
will. The moment that I, from the heart, yield my will 
to his will, and submit myself to his authority, I am par- 



428 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



doned. That moment I am released from the power of the 
law of sin and death, and am freely accepted In the Beloved. 
Having pardoned me, he now lives and reigns to make in- 
tercession for me. But I am weak, and the motions of 
sin are still in my body; therefore, I shall need constantly 
to bathe my soul in the fountain of Divine mercy, until 
the conflid with sin is ended, and my ransomed spirit shall 
rest in the paradise of God. 





'/^ y^-<.<.^*=^^:^^ 



I'W. CaxroU ScC? Pjhlistiers.Cradnnali.O. 



WILLIAM BAXTER. 



V\7ILLIAM BAXTER was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, July 
^ 6, 1820, and emigrated, with his parents, to the United States, in 
the year 1828. 

His parents were members of the English Church ; consequently his early 
religious training was in accordance with the Episcopal faith. His natural 
inclinations, however, did not lead him to sympathize with the church of 
his parents. He sought church connexions where his warm, impulsive, 
and generous nature would find more scope and freedom. Hence, when 
about sixteen years of age, he became a member of the Methodist Prot- 
estant Church in Alleghany City. 

But this position was destined to be only temporary. He found the 
Methodists a zealous and aftive people, and, so far, he was satisfied with 
his religious connexions. But, as he became more and more acquainted 
with the Bible, he was fully convinced that he had not obeyed the Gospel 
according to the teaching of the New Testament. This conviftion soon 
led him to demand a Scriptural baptism, and he was accordingly immersed, 
in 1838, by the lamented Samuel Church, who was then pastor of the 
church in Alleghany City. 

In the year 1841, he entered Bethany College as a student, and, after 
remaining four years, graduated in 1845, having, in the meantime, given 
considerable promise as a preacher of the Gospel. After leaving college 
he entered at once adlively upon the work of the ministry. He preached 
one year for the brethren in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; then three years, 
at Port Gibson, Mississippi; next, Wilkinson County, Mississippi, seven 
years ; next at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Fayetteville, Arkansas, four years ; 
and finally, at Cincinnati and New Lisbon, Ohio. At the former place he 
labored for the Sixth-street Church about two years, and at the latter he is 
at present located, where he is doing an excellent work in building up and 
strengthening the cause of Christ in that part of the State. He has also 
been quite successful as a teacher, having filled, in a satisfadlory manner, 

(429) 



430 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the Chair of Belles-Lettres in Newton College, Mississippi, and, more re- 
cently, the Presidency of Arkansas College, at Fayetteville, Arkansas. 

Besides publishing a volume of poems in 1852, he has been, for many 
years, a regular contributor to several public journals. Among these may 
be mentioned the ''Ladies' Repository," ''Southern Literary Messenger," 
and "Millennial Harbinger." In 1864, he published a volume entitled 
"Pea Ridge and Prairie Grove; or. Scenes and Incidents of the War in 
Arkansas." 

Brother Baxter is rather small of stature, but compaftly built ; has strongly • 
marked features, w^ith a nervous, excitable temperament. Although in years 
past he has been in feeble health, he looks now as if his health was quite 
vigorous. But his constitution is one which needs constant, careful watch 
ing. 

Both as a writer and speaker he is chaste and easy in style, while his 
thoughts are always pure and elevating. He has deep and tender sympa- 
thies, with large and aflive benevolence; consequently the poor and dis- 
tressed never came to him in vain. As a pastor of a church, he is attentive 
to the real wants of his people, and labors earnestly for their spiritual 
advancement. In this department of labor he has been eminently sue 
cessful. 



THE LOVE OF GOD. 



BY WILLIAM BAXTER. 



" For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that 
vv'hosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." — • 
John iii : i6. 

NEVER were words more deeply fraught with mean- 
ing than those which the Savior uttered in the hear- 
ing of the learned Rabbi of Israel, words of deep import 
to you, to me, to the whole family of man. They make 
known the most benign attribute of the Divine Father; 
present before us its loftiest exhibition, and declare to 
dying men its blissful result. That attribute is the love 
of God; the exhibition of it, the death of his Son; the re- 
sult, the eternal salvation of all those who, by holy obedi- 
ence, manifest their trust in the Lamb of God that taketh 
away the sin of the world. 

The angels who beheld the marvels of creative power 
when God called our world into being, saw not, until the 
fourth day, the regal sun, the queenly moon, and the starry 
host. Nor did hoary patriarch, mitred priest, or inspired 
prophet, ever behold such glories as met the gaze of the 
fishermen of Galilee when Jesus appeared to them on the 
holy mount, as he appears to the immortals now. For 
four thousand years God had been giving the world 

(431) 



432 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



proofs of his love; but how deep, how tender, how ex- 
haustless that love, the world never knew, until the Sav- 
ior*s words to Nicodemus were fulfilled. 

In contemplating the love and compassion of God, there 
is danger of a trust and confidence that borders upon pre- 
sumption ; while too great attention to the severer attri- 
butes — such as justice and holiness — may lead to doubt, 
and even despair. Viewed in connection, the beauty and 
harmony of the whole is to be seen. As in the deluge, 
while there is anger and justice, so there is an ark, a dove, 
an olive-leaf, the smoke of sacrifice ascending, and, ovei 
all, the rainbow hues of love and peace ; the fierce, surg- 
ing waters, like the frown of God — the rainbow, like his 
smile of love. 

Thus, we may contemplate the power of God as dis- 
played in creating and sustaining this vast universe ; be- 
hold it, in the fierce tornado, and the wild commotion of 
the ocean storm; see it refleded in the glare of the forked 
lightning, as it darts across the darkened heavens; hear it 
proclaimed by the muttering thunder, as if he were speak- 
ing in tones of wrath to a guilty world ; and we shall find 
there is nothing in all this calculated to awaken any othei 
feeling save that of terror and. trembling awe. 

When we remember that God fills all things — that he is 
every-where present — that thought is calculated to arouse 
our fears, and rivet upon our minds the conviction that 
we can not go where he is not; we feel that God is above, 
beneath, around us ; with us in the crowded city and the 
solitary desert; in the pursuit of pleasure, and the hurry 
of business; in the bustle of noonday, and the silence of 
midnight ; in the hall of revelry, and the temple devoted 
to his service; with us at home and abroad, in and around 
our daily paths ; and, with the minstrel king, we are led 



WILLIAM BAXTER. 433 



to exclaim: ''Whither shall I go from thy Spirit, or 
whither shall I flee from thy presence. If I ascend into 
the heavens, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, 
thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and 
dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there thy 
hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." 
And the boldest will tremble when he remembers that he 
is in the presence of the Ever-present One. 

If we remember that God knows all things, from the 
thoughts of the loftiest intelhgence that burns near his 
throne, to the instind of the most insignificant creature 
that he has made; that he looks on us not as man looks, 
but that his piercing eye sees through all our disguises 
and concealments, penetrates the flimsy vail of hypocrisv, 
discerns the very thoughts and intents of the heart, we 
quail before the searching glance of the All-seeing One, 
to whom the secrets of all hearts are known, and who will 
disclose them before the assembled universe, for our ap- 
proval or condemnation, in the judgment of the great day. 

We call to mind the declaration of holy writ, that just- 
ice and judgment are the habitation, of Jehovah's throne, 
and his righteous laws, which we have so often broken, 
rise up and condemn us ; a fearful day of retribution in 
the future threatens, and our guilty souls find no refuge, 
no hiding-place from the storm in the justice of God. 

We turn to his holiness, the stainless purity of his char- 
adler ; we look at the defilement which sin has brought 
upon us; we feel that, like the leper, we should place our 
hands upon our mouths and cry, ''Unclean! unclean!" 
His purity, contrasted with our sin, his holiness, with the 
corruption which we feel in our own nature, leaves us no 
foundation for hope in the holiness of God. Had God 
manifested no other attributes of his nature than these, 
28 



434 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the condition of man would have been hapless in the ex- 
treme; hope would have long since died in the human 
heart, and our race would have toiled on in despair, from 
the cradle to the grave : but it is recorded on the sacred page 
that *' God is love;" that ''God so loved the world;" and 
these glad words drive away all our fears ; they bid us draw 
near with filial confidence, and, from full hearts, cry, 
Father! father! 

As the loveliest and sublimest objeds in nature, under 
certain circumstances, rather alarm than delight us, so some 
of the attributes of God, contemplated singly, fill the soul 
with dread; but, when viewed in relation to each other, 
they glow in the hues of loveliness alone. Thus, if we 
wander at nightfall in the depths of the forest, there is 
naught around us to give delight; the night wind sweeps 
through the overspreading branches like a wail of woe, 
and strange shapes are dimly seen through the gloom; a 
horror of great darkness fills the mind with vague and un- 
defined terror, and we long to escape from the fearful place. 
But, lo ! the moon rises in queenly splendor, and pours 
her mild radiance over the scene; the dew-drops glitter 
upon the leaves like diamonds set in emeralds; the wind's 
sad sigh now becomes a lofty hymn; and the scene, late so 
desolate and drear, as if by enchantment, is changed to one 
of surpassing loveliness. How awful, in the midnight 
gloom, is the thunder of Niagara! how awe-inspiring the 
fierce rush of its fearful leap into the gulf below! The 
soul is hushed in its solemn presence, while fancy shapes 
its rising mists into unearthly forms. But day comes on 
apace, and all its terrors depart; like pure crystal seems 
the torrent now; the sunbeams irradiate the falling spray, 
and the late dreadful catarad wears a rainbow, like a crown 
of glory, on its brow. And thus it is, when the heart is de- 



WILLIAM BAXTER. 435 



pressed by the thought that God Is all-seeing, ever-present, 
holy, just, and true; then the thought comes, that he is 
full of compassion and tender love, and, like the moon- 
beams to the darkened forest, or the sweet sunlight to the 
cataracfl, so is the light of love to those attributes that once 
inspired terror alone. The power of the Almighty, under 
the guidance of love, will be exerted for the protedion of 
the obje6t of that love; his presence, which made us trem- 
ble, will become, of all things, the most desirable; his uni- 
versal knowledge will make him acquainted with all our 
wants and all our woes; holiness will glow brighter in the 
light of love; the severity of justice will be softened; for 
in the great exhibition of love which God has made in the 
death of his Son, justice and mercy truly have met, right- 
eousness and peace have embraced each other. 

God has ever loved our race. From the time that his 
mandate called our first parent from the dust, his kind 
care and tender love have been extended over us. The 
sentence of exile from Eden had scarcely been pronounced, 
when God made known his love to man by giving the 
gracious promise, that one born of woman, like a mighty 
conqueror, should bruise the head of the arch enemy, and 
win for man a brighter Eden than Adam lost. God mani- 
fested his love by permitting man to approach him through 
the medium of sacrifice; by his speaking, through angels, 
to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; by the rites and ceremo- 
nies of the Mosaic institution; by sending prophet after 
prophet, and teacher after teacher, to instrud our race and 
draw it back to himself. But all these exhibitions of love 
failed to recall lost man from his wanderings. He treated 
his messengers with scorn, and, by his perversity, for- 
feited all claim to his merciful forbearance; yet God for- 
sook him not, but gave him the strongest possible proof 



436 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



of his love, to win him from sin and sorrow, to holiness, 
to happiness, and Heaven. Love consists not in word, but 
in deed. Men prove their love by their aftions, as did 
the Roman Decius, who, in order to secure vidlory on the 
side of his country, in accordance with the predidion ut- 
tered by the oracle, drew his robe around him, and rush- 
ing into the thickest ranks of the opposing host, yielded 
himself a willing victim, that Rome might be free; or as 
Winkelried, who gladly threw himself on the Austrian 
spears, to open the way for liberty to Switzerland; or as 
Leonidas, who, with the noble three hundred, met the 
rushing myriads of the Persian despot, and bravely died, 
that Greece might not wear the yoke. Thus God, stoop- 
ing to the usages of men, to prove his love to our race, 
gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

But let us examine the meaning of the saying, ^'Gave 
his Son.'' Does it mean that God sent his Son as an am- 
bassador, attended by shining legions of angels, to treat 
with our revolted race, and bring them back to their alle- 
giance? No; he came in lowly guise; no stately palace 
received him ; no princely couch sustained his infant head; 
no national rejoicing hailed his birth; an obscure village 
is the place where the Son of the Highest makes his ap- 
pearance; and he is cradled where the horned oxen fed. 

But was the obscurity of his birth- and the coldness of 
his reception, the privations and dangers of his infantile 
years, all that was meant by God giving his Son ? Ah, 
no; for, though when he first appeared among men, he 
stooped from heaven to earth, this vast descent came far 
short of exhausting its meaning, and we must seek it in 
his future history. 

Behold him, in the desert, undergoing fierce trial. 



WILLIAM BAXTER. 437 



The adversary of our race assails him 011 every point, 
while demons and angels look with deep anxiety for the 
issue of this superhuman conflid. He triumphs, but it 
is only to encounter new trials, to undergo new suffer- 
ings; for, though he were maker of all things, yet did he 
suffer need; and, on one occasion, we hear the homeless 
wanderer exclaim: "The foxes have holes, and the birds 
of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where 
to lay his head." Contrast his friendless destitution with 
the glory he had laid aside, on our behalf, and then ask. 
Is not even this a wonderful display of our Father's 
love.^ 

But let us follow his eventful life, through priestly hate 
and pharisaic invedive — a life stigmatized as evil, though 
spent in doing good — to that scene of sorrow which trans- 
pired in Gethsemane Garden on the night of his dark 
betrayal. He had just eaten the last supper with the twelve; 
he had seen Judas depart; and well did he know the foul 
purpose which filled his traitorous bosom. The echoes 
of the hymn which closed the feast had died away, and, 
with his disciples, he sought the retirement of the Garden, 
whose calm solitude had often invited to solemn contem- 
plation and earnest prayer. 

'' Tarry ye here, while I go and pray yonder," he says, 
and soon he is alone. The work he came to perform is 
nearly accomplished, but, as the closing scene draws near, 
his nature seems to shrink from the dread encounter; deep 
sorrow, like a mountain weight, presses on his heart, and 
his soul becomes exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. 
He prostrates himself on the cold, damp earth, and, in the 
mos't touching tones, he makes his petition to the Father. 
He pours out his soul to God in strong cries and tears, 
but no other deliverer can be found, and he treads the 



438 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



wine-press alone. He rises and seeks his disciples; but 
they had forgotten their sorrows in sleep. He leaves them, 
and again prays in anguish of spirit. He even asks the 
third time, and, while prostrate in the dreadful agony of 
that fearful hour — such was the burden of our guilt, so 
intense the pain and mental agony which he endured, that 
his sweat was as great drops of blood falling down to the 
ground — and the meek sufferer, in that hour of mortal 
anguish, cries : " Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass 
from me; nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done.'* 
We now begin to perceive the meaning of the words 
" God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten 
Son," as we gaze on the sorrowful scene which transpired 
near the hour of midnight in that Garden's shade. Oh ! 
it was a fearful and a gloomy hour. Angels, doubtless, 
were near, weeping, too, if angels ever wept, and gazing 
with intense interest upon the sight, and wondering when 
this scene of sorrow, this scene of love, would end. De- 
mons, too, looked on with scowling hate, or rejoiced in 
the apparent defeat of the Great Champion of our race ; 
while man, alone of all created intelligences, for whom, 
too, all this was transpiring, was unobservant and un- 
moved. It might be thought that the scene might, with 
propriety, close here; that a sufficient proof of the love 
of God had been given ; that it was enough that his Son 
had descended to earth in humility; that he had dwelt 
amid scenes of sorrow and privation ; that, under the load 
of our guilt, while we had no tears for our own crimes, 
they had caused the bloody drops of agony to fall from 
the body of God's beloved Son. But, no ; God has an 
other exhibition of love, than which he himself could give 
no greater. Without the shedding of blood, there could 
be no remission. Man must die, or the Son of the High- 



WILLIAM BAXTER. 439 



est must bleed. God gives the just for the unjust, and 
the spotless Lamb of God is slain for us. 

We now come to the grand climax of the love of our 
heavenly Father, in which all the rich fullness of his affec- 
tion is displayed; and, if man be not convinced of his love 
by this crowning a(5t, he must forever remain in utter and 
hopeless skepticism. This is heaven's last argument; for, 
when God gives his Son to die, there is no greater gift in 
the treasviry of the skies, to demonstrate his great, his ex- 
ceeding love to man. 

It is a solemn, and often a fearful thing, to die. There 
is something in death's approach which makes the best 
and bravest tremble; the severing of all earthly ties; the 
cold, clammy sweat, the failing breath, the struggle of the 
spirit for life, and the unspeakable anguish which often 
attends the closing scene, makes us shrink instinctively 
from the dying strife. Some, however, who have fallen 
on the battle-plain, in their country's cause, have been 
known to die exultingly in the moment of vi6lory, ex- 
claiming: "'Tis sweet, oh! 'tis sweet for my country to 
die !" The Christian martyr has been seen to yield up 
his life amid devouring flames, in proof of his attachment 
to his Lord and Master. Nay, many, very many, have 
triumphed on the bed of pain and languishing, and, up- 
borne by a living faith, have looked upon death with an 
unfaltering gaze. But, when death comes attended with 
open shame and ignominy; when the infuriated mob pours 
out its reproaches on the objecfl of its hate, and clamors 
furiously for his blood ; when no tear is shed for the suf- 
ferer; when his eye looks around for a single look of pity, 
and sees it not ; when his ear listens for one kind word to 
soothe his last agony, and hears it not; then, indeed, is 
death terrible. And yet to such a death did God give his 



440 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Son. He gave him freely for us all, that he might taste 
death for every man. He met it in its most repulsive 
form — partook of the death appointed for the vilest male- 
fadors, in token that the benefits of his death might be 
enjoyed by the vilest of our race. Betrayed by a false 
friend ; seized by rude foes in the Garden, hallowed by his 
prayers; deserted by his disciples, he is confronted with 
those who long have thirsted for his blood. 

It is night; yet, with indecent haste, they begin the 
trial. False witnesses fail to fasten any crime upon him. 
The Roman governor declares " I find no fault in him." 
Yet, when all the vile arts of flattery, intimidation, and 
perjury fail — for confessing the truth, that he is the Son of 
God — he is condemned to die. It is day — high day — and 
now the scene of shame, the scene of sorrow, begins. The 
multitude, excited by their leaders, demand his execution; 
and, in answer to their blood-thirsty clamors, the vidim 
is led forth. His body, lacerated with cruel stripes, seems 
one gushing wound; yet that bleeding body and thorn- 
pierced brow awakens no pity in the breasts of his relent- 
less persecutors. Ten thousand eyes glare fiercely upon 
him — ten thousand voices rend the heavens with the shout 
of, ''Crucify him! crucify him!" as, with fiendish exultation, 
they behold him delivered to their will. And now the liv- 
ing tide presses to the city gate; the priest, the scribe,, the 
publican, the Pharisee, soldiers and civilians, rich and poor, 
are all in that throng, all animated by the same thirst for 
blood, all joining in bitter execrations, all striving to fill, 
with unmingled bitterness, the cup of agony he is called 
upon to drink; and yet no maledidion falls from the lips 
of that meek sufferer; no bright-armed legions are called 
from the skies, to spread destruction through that ungodly 
throng; but, as a sheep led to the slaughter, with painful 



WILLIAM BAXTER. 44I 



step and slow, he urges his way up the rugged steep of Cal- 
vary. The goal of his earthly course is reached; his un- 
resisting form is nailed to the cursed tree; the cross is up- 
raised, and the spotless vidim hangs on high; and for a 
season the powers of darkness seem to triumph. The tur- 
baned priest mocks him in his bitter agony; the Pharisee 
smiles in scorn, the rabble revile and. insult the dying 
victim. 

*' Still from his lip no curse hath come. 
His lofty eye hath looked no doom. 
No earthquake's burst, no angel brand. 
Curses the black, blaspheming band.'* 

No; but from those pale lips, quivering with anguish, 
issue the kind, compassionate words: ''Father, forgive 
them;" and thus, in agony, he hung, bleeding, suffering, 
dying; he bowed his head, cried, " It is finished," and died 
for us; and it is in this scene that we must look for the 
full import of the words ''God so loved the world that 
he gave his only-begotten Son." 

But why all this Divine compassion, all this love, and 
all this woe? The answer is: "That whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Not 
that all our race will be saved because Jesus died; not 
that the unbelieving and disobedient will be forced to the 
heaven they have striven to avoid; not that the proud 
scoffer and despiser of God's Son will be saved by that 
blood he now spurns and tramples upon; but that who- 
soever believeth^ may come to Christ and live. But does 
a mere acceptance of the truth set forth in the text save? 
No; the sinner must trust in the Crucified One; must love 
him who laid down his life for his sake; must prove his 
love and trust, by obeying his commandments; for the 
faith that leads not to love and all holy obedience, is not 



442 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the faith of the Gospel. But what is meant by the phrase 
"Not perish?" Does it mean, ''Shall not die?" Surely 
not, for believers and unbelievers alike taste of death, and 
are laid in the narrow mansion appointed for all the living. 
Th.^ perishing, from which the believer is to be rescued, is 
more than the death of the body. It is the despair, the 
remorse, the unutterable woe, the bitter pang of the second 
death, which all shall know who despise the gift of God's 
great love, and, by their unbelief and consequent disobe- 
dience, exclude themselves forever from the paradise 
above. The believer in the Son of God, however, has 
more to expe6t than a mere escape from the woes conse- 
quent upon disobedience; for it is not only declared 
"that he shall not perish," but the gracious promise is 
added, " that he shall have everlasting life" — a life not of 
endless duration only, but a life of eternal blessedness in 
the presence of Him who makes heaven glorious and the 
angels glad. The society of the prophets, the apostles, the 
martyrs, and all the pure in heart; a place near the crystal 
stream that flows from beneath the throne; the fruit and 
the shade of the tree of life; exemption from sickness, sor- 
row, and tears; the harp of praise, the crown of glory, the 
palm of victory, everlasting joys, eternal songs, all the 
heart can wish — nay, more than the loftiest thought can 
conceive of blessedness, are all included in the promise of 
everlasting life — the inheritance of the believer in Jesus. 
A word to those who have not availed themselves of 
the merciful provisions of the Gospel of peace, and we 
have done. You have seen the wonderful display of love 
which God has made, and all this was done for you. You 
have seen the Lamb of God bleeding, groaning, agonizing, 
dying, not to save friends, but to secure happiness for his 
foes. Will God permit you to slight all this love, and all 



WILLIAM BAXTER. 443 



this sorrow, and yet hold you guiltless? Will you steel 
your hearts against all that God has done and Christ has 
suffered? Amid all those manifestations of tender compas- 
sion, will you force your way down to ruin, and madly 
seek that perdition from which the Redeemer died to save 
you ? Will you still trample underfoot his loving-kindness 
and tender mercy, and expose yourself to all the unspeak- 
able horrors of death eternal? Stop, I entreat you! Be 
persuaded by your soul's peril, by the Savior's blood and 
tears. If you shrink from the responsibilities of a follower 
of Christ, think, for a moment, of the fearful responsibili- 
ties of his enemies. If you shrink at the difficulty of obe- 
dience, think of the danger of disobedience. If the weight 
of the cross appall you, think, O think, of the brightness 
of the unfading, the immortal crown! God loves you; 
can you doubt it, when you look upon the cross, and its 
bleeding vidim? Christ loves you; can you doubt it, 
when, for you — 

" He left his starry crown. 
And laid his robes aside; 
On wings of love came down. 
And wept, and bled, and died?" 

Can you doubt it, when, through his Gospel, he is ever 
crying: "Come unto me?" Can you stay away, when he 
says: '^He that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast 
out?" Turn, then, from all your sins away, *'for the 
wages of sin is death." Turn to the Savior, believe in 
him, love him, obey him; ''for the gift of God is eternal 
life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 



CHARLES LOUIS LOOS. 



/CHARLES LOUIS LOOS was born, December 22, 1823, at Woerth- 
^^ sur-Sauer, Department of the Lower Rhine, France. His father's name 
was Jacques G. Loos, and he was also a native of France; his mother was 
a native of Bavaria, consequently, German. 

The early life of Charles, in France, was spent, after his fourth year, 
in attending the academy in his native place, until his departure for the 
United States, in 1834. His father, who was an enthusiastic Republican, 
left France for America, in 1832, to find a home for the family. The 
family followed in the fall of 1834, and, when they reached the United 
States, found the father sick at New Franklin, Starke County, Ohio, where, 
in a short time, he died. 

While he was in France, Charles had been educated in both the French 
and German languages, and his knowledge of these enabled him soon to be- 
come acquainted with the English. His family belonged to the Lutheran 
Cnurch, and he was trained religiously, by a pious grandmother, in whose 
/amilv ne was reared. He has never ceased to recognize the blessed influ- 
ence at ni«5 earlv religious training, and thinks he is largely indebted to it 
for becommg a preacher of the Gospel. 

In the fall of 1837, he was confirmed in the Lutheran Church; in a 
few months afterward he became acquainted with the Disciples, of whom 
there was a Church at Minerva, five miles from his home. He at once 
began to examine their religious position, and, having become satisfied that 
it was in accordance with the teaching of the Word of God, in 1838, at a 
meeting held by J. Wesley Lanpheare, he was immersed by John Whit- 
acre. This caused great bitterness and opposition among his Lutheran 
relatives; but he had taken the step under an earnest conviftion of duty, 
and did not stop to consult with flesh and blood. 

He taught school at sixteen years of age, and, at seventeen, began to 
preach in the vicinity of his home, and gave great promise of future use- 
fulness. 

In September 1842, he entered Bethany College, where he graduated 

(445) 



44^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



in 1846, and remained in the college three years, as a teacher in the pri- 
mary department. He was married at Bethany, July 6, 1848, to Rosetta 
E. Kerr, daughter of Rev. John Kerr, a Presbyterian minister, of Newry, 
Ireland. She had been in America four years. 

In 1849, he was ordained to the work of the ministry, and removed to 
Wellsbarg, Virginia, and preached for the Church at that place one year. 
In 06lober, 1850, he removed to Somerset, Pennsylvania, where he re- 
mained five years, and, while there, in addition to his pastoral labors, edited 
a monthly periodical, called " The Disciple," for two years, and was prin- 
cipal of an academy for the same length of time. In January, 1856, he took 
charge of the Church corner of Eighth and Walnut streets, Cincinnati, also 
assisting in editing the " Christian Age." Having been elefted President of 
Eureka College, Illinois, he moved there in January, 1857, and remained 
till September, 1858, when he returned to Bethany College, having been 
elefted to the Chair of Ancient Languages and Literature in that institu- 
tion. He still occupies that position. 

Professor Loos is just five feet ten inches high, has dark hair, light hazel 
eyes, and weighs about one hundred and forty pounds. His personal ap- 
pearance and manners indicate his French origin, while his speech is de- 
cidedly German. The influence of these two races is still more clearly 
marked in his mental chara6leristics. The studious thoughtfulness, the 
philosophical acumen, the plodding industry, and the generous hospitality 
of the German are happily blended with the volatile spirit, fire, and en- 
thusiasm of the French. He is a deep, earnest thinker, and generally takes 
a broad, comprehensive view of things. As a public speaker, his style is verv 
original. His gesticulation is rapid, and, when warmed up, his thoughts 
flow like a torrent. His whole soul seems to be absorbed in his theme, and 
sometimes, in his happiest moods, he speaks as if he were inspired. 



GLORYING IN THE CROSS ONLY. 



BY C. L. LDOS. 



"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, by which the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world." — 
Gal. vi: 14. 

WE have selefted this passage, as the thought which 
it contains, so nobly uttered by Paul, has ever 
been, and ever will be, a leading one for guidance in the 
right way — for confidence and joy, for strength and vic- 
tory, to every true Christian heart. It is a bright torch 
in our hand, illuminating the path of our studies and con- 
templations in the field of Christian dodrine and Chris- 
tian history. It interprets to us the evangelical voices of 
the prophets; reveals to us the glorious mysteries of our 
Savior's earthly history, and of the apostolic life and la- 
bors ; and sends its illuminating beams across centuries and 
millenniums, to lead men, in every age, to a true under- 
standing of the advancing history of the Church in doc- 
trine and in life. 

The strong deprecatory language of the apostle in our 
text, reveals to us that there are other objeds than the 
Cross in which men glory; that all such glorying is not 
only 'Wain," and opposed to the spirit of the Gospel, 
but in the highest degree fatal to the fidelity and purity, 

(447) 



44^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the joy and power, of the individual Christian life in the 
apostle, and to the work of God in his hand. So we are 
to understand and accept his words. It is strong, decisive 
language, most comprehensive, and that can not be mis- 
understood, uttered from an earnest heart, under the 
promptings of the Spirit of God. It is one of those 
great declarations of the apostle that often, in one word, 
reveal to us the great law of his own and of all Christian 
life, individual and associate. It stands before us not 
only as an oracle of the Holy Spirit, and, as such, demand- 
ing our acceptance; but, beyond this, it has a special sig- 
nificance and value to us, in revealing the law of life that 
controlled Paul as an individual Christian man, and made 
him what he was, and has been, for all ages, as a monu- 
ment of the grace of God; a '' man of God," rising loftily 
in his marvelous devotion to Christ, in his life of labor, 
suffering, and vidlories for Christ's sake ; for he speaks 
this diredlly of himself: ^' God forbid that I should glory, 
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the 
world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." 

The history of such a man is given to us as a rich in- 
heritance, and should ever be to us a special study, that 
we might not only rejoice in what he was m his wondrous 
life, but that we also might learn the mystery of such a 
life. It thus becomes a great demonstration of what the 
power of God is in the Gospel — that ''power of God unto 
salvation," as he himself has called it — in so marvelously 
transforming the lion-like, fiercely-persecuting Saul of tar- 
sus into Paul the Christian apostle, through a long life of 
unexampled endurances the lion-like hero, in his complete 
devotion in the Gospel as a '' servant of Christ." 

With such thoughts, then, we come to meditate upon 
the declaration of Paul that constitutes our text, looking 



C. L. LOOS. 449 



at it in its double significance, on its negative, and on its 
positive side; what it forbids and deprecates, and what it 
rejoices in and commands as the true and chief objed: of 
our glorying. 

It is our purpose, however, especially to discuss what is 
embraced in the negative side of these words, what Paul 
so strongly condemns, as it is this condemnation of all 
false glorying that gives such peculiar force to the declar- 
ation, and so strongly arrests our attention. The impor- 
tance of this part of the study of our text must be evident 
to the thoughtful Christian mind. The very force of the 
language suggests it, and the careful tracing out of the field 
which it covers will fully reveal and justify this force of 
words. And let us keep steadfastly in mind that Paul's 
language is most exclusive. It allows no objed: of '^ glory- 
ing" whatever, in the strong sense which Paul gives to 
this word here, except the Cross of Christ. His denun- 
ciation, therefore — the denunciation of the Holy Spirit — 
covers all that lies outside of this. What, then, are these 
false objeds of human glorying.? To inquire into this 
shall be the special purpose of this discourse. 

A few preliminary reflections are necessary to give the 
proper designed weight to what we intend to say. 

Since man, in his first disobedience, by a dired inspi- 
ration of Satan, threw off the supreme and complete do- 
minion of God over him, and conceived the rebellious, 
fatal thought of being his own master and god — his soul, 
in its disordered wanderings, has been, for the lack of this 
sovereign control from on high, the sport of sinful pas- 
sions, by which, as evil powers, it has been urged on all 
sides to sin against God, and to work out its own ruin. 
There have been manifested by the universal implantation 
of the seeds of disobedience and sin universal tendencies 
29 



450 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



away from God, the central power of all that is true, and 
good, and blessed, and toward all that is false, evil, and 
destrucflive of human happiness. These tendencies of our 
evil nature — as they are alone the dired offspring of sin, 
and as "all have sinned" — are as universal as humanity, 
inherent in our "flesh," and as enduring as the ages of sin 
on earth. It is of great consequence well to note this 
truth. Wherever one being is that wears the form of 
Adam, the sinful, the earthy — that is clothed in the flesh, 
dwelling on this earth, and so surrounded by the world of 
sin, these common tendencies to evil will be found as his 
perpetual attendants. They are neither Asiatic, African, 
European, nor American ; they are Adamic. They belong 
exclusively, neither to the past, the present, nor the future; 
they belong to all time. They are limited to no class; 
and from them no party — whatever its creed, religion, or 
its philosophy, whatever its attainments in knowledge or 
life — is free. They are the motions of sin, and will cling 
to us all, whatever, in any respecfl, we may be, as long as 
the liability to sin is with us ; as long as " we dwell in 
houses of clay, and have our habitations in the dust;" as 
long as that solemn and most significant saying of Christ 
will be true of us: "The spirit indeed is willing, but the 
ilesh is weak!" — as long as this "burden" of life, of this 
body and this world, is upon us. 

Humiliating as it may be to human pride, yet it is most 
needful, without ceasing, to impress this truth upon the 
minds and hearts of men ; for such is our proneness to pride 
and self-righteousness, such our trust in and boast of creed 
and party perfection, amounting often to idolatry, that we 
perpetually forget that we, as.all others, are yet but men, are 
yet in the flesh — this sinful flesh ; are yet under the motions 
of sin, and liable to all the frailties and aberrations inherent 



C. L. LOOS. 451 



to our common Adamic nature, and that for the best there 
is no entire and final release until we are freed from this 
body. Advancement, indeed, there may be in the mighty 
conflidl with these manifestations and powers of a sinful 
nature; glorious victories, by the grace of God, may be 
gained by those who are strong "by faith," with ''strength 
in the Lord and the power of his might" "to overcome 
the world." But only when the battle of life is ended, 
and "mortality is swallowed up of life," will the great de- 
liverance come. Especially can this immunity never be 
the lot of any class or party, however pure and perfedl its 
creed. For whatever eminent attainments and progress in 
the Divine life individuals here and there may make, and 
do make, such attainments are never true in a like degree 
of entire bodies of people, representing every form and class 
of humanity. For any religious people to claim it, is a 
foolish and sinful vanity, that reveals an ignorance of the 
Bible, of the history of humanity in the Church, and es- 
pecially of themselves. That the pure dodlrine of Christ, 
so rarely understood and accepted, and an earnest, divinely- 
supported effort to live in conformity to it, give us the 
surest and greatest triumphs over all these common evil 
tendencies of a fallen nature, is a truth so clear, so well 
accepted, that it need not for a moment be questioned. 
Purity of dodrine — of creed, if you choose — is to be in- 
sisted on for this very reason, with "all diligence," and 
is not for a moment to be compromised or lightly treated. 
It is an essential Divine means to salvation from sin. Let 
this never be overlooked. But — let us repeat it — the purest 
and fullest conception of Bible truth does not grant to us 
a perfect freedom from the liability to these evil tenden- 
cies, as it does not, and can not, grant us an immunity 
from sin. " If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, 



4-52 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



and the truth is not in us.'* This is a solemn saying. 
This is true of indi\^iduals; how much more of whole 
bodies. Let every Christian man ponder it well. 

In dired application, now, to the subjedl before us, we 
say that among the most immediate and pernicious of 
these motions of sin — these evil tendencies — is that which, 
in diredl opposition to God's command, leads us to false 
objects of "glorying." We use this term in our discus- 
sion in the sense in which it is employed by Paul in our 
text, denoting that to which we give the supreme devotion 
of our hearts, and which is the highest object of joy and 
glory to us. If "glorying" be employed in any weaker 
and more subordinate sense, it is not that which Paul here 
employs. This declaration of Paul is made particularly 
and diredly in opposition to the Judaizers in the Gala- 
tian churches, who "gloried in the flesh." "As many of 
them as desire to have a fair show in the flesh, compel you 
to be circumcised, only (for the purpose only) that they 
might not suffer persecution for the Cross of Christ. For 
neither the circumcised themselves keep the law, but de- 
sire you to be circumcised that they may glory in your 
flesh. But for me," (and by way of contrast — for such is 
the literal force of the passage,) " God forbid that /should 
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which 
the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world." 
Observe well the grand reason which he attaches — the 
power of the Cross to emancipate him from the dominion 
of the world. 

We look at this question only as it relates to our relig- 
ious and spiritual life, and as it affeds and is illustrated 
in the Church of Christ. With the history of the ques- 
tion as it lies outside of these limits, we have, at present, 
nothing to do. 



C. L. LOOS. 453 



The great significance of the words of Paul in our text 
is fully verified in the entire history of God's people. The 
endless aberrations from primitive truth, from the law and 
spirit of the Gospel, that charadterize the annals of the 
great apostasy, and are signalized more or less in the re- 
cords of every sedl and party, are largely due to the viola- 
tions of the great law of Christian life here announced by 
Paul — to glorying in false objed:s of devotion, in lesser 
objeds than the Cross of Jesus Christ; so robbing our 
Lord of the glory due only to liim, shutting out our souls 
from the power of the Cross, and thus perverting and 
debasing, by this idolatry, our own nature. To us, espe- 
cially, who are laboring for a repristination of the Church 
after the pure law and spirit of the New Testament, it is 
of special mxoment to study well the character of this pro- 
lific source of evils in the Church. 

The limits of our discourse allow us to speak only of 
some of the chief manifestations of this ^^ carnal glorying.*' 
We sele(51: those that have been most prominently historic, 
and whose extended evil workings are obvious to all. 

"Let no man glory in men," says Paul. Yet to glory 
in men is a constant tendency of our corrupt nature. We 
speak not now of this passion of hero-worship outside of 
the Church, that has made men make demi-gods of their 
fellows, and has led millions often willingly to subjedl their 
souls in base, slavish bondage, to the dominion of their 
idols. Every-where, among the most enlightened, as 
among the most degraded, the passion of men for this 
servile idol-worship is seen. But it were well if such a 
sinful proneness to idolatry had been limited to the secu- 
lar world. This could not, however, be expelled. It is 
an Adamic sin, inherent to the human. In the bosom of 
the Church of Christ we see it also manifested, and that 



454 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



through the entire course of its history. Let us consider 
it for a moment in its charader and evil workings. 

In the first place, it is positively prohibited by the Holy 
Spirit: "Let no man glory in men." To do so, then, is 
to violate, in a dired and positive way, an express law of 
God. The Holy Spirit would not so severely and exclu- 
sively denounce this sin, were it not a sin, and were its effedls 
not pernicious to the cause of God. These evil effeds are 
manifold. 'This glorying in man enslaves the minds and souls of 
men. It clothes the very objeds of this hero-worship with 
perfections not theirs, and hides or sandifies their defeds 
and errors. It makes men ready willingly to receive as au- 
thoritative, the opinions, expositions of dodrine, and spir- 
itual control of their masters^ often to the rejedion of the 
highest and most salutary truths. It enchains, with the 
ipse dixit of the master, the precious liberty with which 
Christ has endowed his people. This liberty, this glorious 
gift of God, permits and commands us to push our inqui- 
ries, uncontrolled but by the limits of the law of God, on- 
ward and onward evermore, into the infinite treasures of 
the wisdom and knowledge of God, and so to satisfy our 
souls' hungering and thirsting after the light and life, the 
truth and love, the joys and the glories, of Heaven. But 
this base idolatry confronts us perpetually with the de- 
mands of submission to the law of the master s attainments 
and opinions, commanding abjed homage to these — mak- 
ing these a hitherto, beyond which no man must proudly 
venture; thus basely seeking to enslave the noblest inspi- 
rations and aspirations of the free Christian soul, to which 
it has been awakened by the freedom with which Christ 
has made it free, to the finite, the human^ when it should 
bow to the infinite, the unerring Divine alone. This 
erring human^ beset as it is, in every possible case, with 



C. L. LOOS. 455 



weaknesses, prejudices, and errors, even in the highest 
examples of wisdom, bf knowledge, and piety, can never, 
must never, be allowed to control this lofty freedom of 
the Christian soul — a freedom, the glorious consciousness 
of which is a supreme joy that the slave can never feel, 
and gives the soul unwonted strength that he can never 
know. It bears it upward, as upon wings, in the conscious- 
ness of right^ and of a sublime energy to ascend in the 
pathway of truth. This grand highway of the Bible, opened 
to man, to lead him ever onward, and ever upward, to the 
throne of the Eternal, must not be obstruded by human 
idols, made so by foolish men. 

Such false homage to the human debases the soul. The 
freest and fullest development of all that is great and good, 
pure and lofty, in man, is possible only where the fullest 
freedom, limited only by the sovereign law of God, is 
found. But to subje(5b the soul to the human, cripples it 
in its strength, cultivates narrow-mindedness, prejudice, 
and the love of ignorance. It also inspires a spirit of 
wicked tyranny; for none are such tyrants as those who are 
willing and degraded slaves themselves. To see this, look 
but for a moment at the soul-and-mind-emasculated Cath- 
olic, monkish devotee, who, in dark and vacant spirit, 
crouches before his superior, in the abjediness of his slav- 
ery, spiritless as a corpse — and there is a tool of tyranny^ 
fearful and terrible, as he is ignorant and degraded. 

There is another evil effed that this "glorying in 
men" but seldom fails to produce on the objeds them- 
selves of this servility. In spite of all the better prompt- 
ings of wisdom and true piety, this perpetual praise and 
adulation, this constant incense-burning and submission 
before them, will often beget in them an extravagant, false 
notion of their wisdom, their knowledge, power, and au- 



45^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



thorlty. It makes them, in the end, exped, and not sel- 
dom demand^ the homage as a right which they have so long 
been accustomed to receive. It is a dangerous and evil 
thing to make men taste the power of authority, so sweet 
to our unfortunate nature. Be not surprised at this. We 
are all but men; and as a habitual life of slavery generally 
ends in making re-ally a slave out of a rrian^ so also, in like 
manner, a long-enjoyed, easily-yielded homage and domin- 
ion, finally begets the love and assertion of it. 

Finally, this '' carnal glorying in men" — an error undy- 
ing as sin, with millenniums on its brow — is yet vigorous 
for evil, in its Protean shapes, to-day as of old ! It would 
have made the Nazarene prophet a king, from the falsest 
of motives, entirely ignorant and regardless of his real 
character as the true Messiah. It made fierce assaults on 
the infant Church in the very day of the apostles, and with 
the most specious pretenses. One gloried in Paul, another 
in Cephas, another in Apollos. It has made man, from 
age to age, in servile abeyance to the tyrannous behests of 
this passion of slavery, subdue in his own heart, and at- 
tempt to subdue in the hearts of others, the best convic- 
tions of truth that, in a loud voice, demanded utterance 
for God and humanity. 1 1 is a prolific fountain of inj ustice 
to men often the purest and the best, and is the origin 
of strifes and ugly-hearted factions. It often fastens the 
chains of mental and spiritual slavery on generations; and, 
above all, turns men away from Christ, to '^ worship the 
creature rather than the Creator!" 

Man must bow to God alone ! How the soul, that 
hungers and thirsts after God and his truth, revolts at 
these base attempts of weak man to fetter it in its progress 
to a fuller knowledge, and to higher enjoyments, of the 
blessed Gospel of Christ! — these attempts to awe into 



C. L. LOOS. 457 



silence and slavish, creeping fear and submission, free and 
noble spirits, by the idolatrous, tyrannous utterance of 
other names than God and his Christ! Let the soul be 
early taught and disciplined — especially in all that concerns 
its religious life, in all that concerns its relations to God — 
to bow in deepest homage and submission only to the Di- 
vine — never to the human! And when foolish man is dis- 
posed thus basely to bow to the human, even in its highest 
perfedions, say to him: "See thou do it not! These are 
but thy fellow-servants. Bow to God only." 

It is the voice of the Holy Spirit, in the Word of God 
and in the heart of every regenerate man, to thank God 
for the men who have been, in every age, his true chosen 
servants ; to esteem them highly for their works' sake, 
and to seek to emulate their eminent examples. He that 
is most enlightened by the law and Spirit of Christ, and 
who has drunk deepest into the inspirations of the words 
of Paul in our text, will feel this most, and do this best. 
Above all others, will he rejoice at those gre-at men of 
God, who, foremost in the ranks of God's people, "have 
fought the good fight" against a gainsaying, apostate gen- 
eration ; and who have boldly taught and defended the 
truth of the Gospel; called men back to the pure do6lrine 
and life of the New Testament; and who will, in the 
eternal world, "shine as the stars forever and forever." All 
this it is our joy and our duty to do. But to place our 
souls in bondage to their words ; to "glory" in them; to 
do homage to them, with a glorying and a homage due 
only to Christ the Crucified, is slavery, idolatry, and sin. 

Another form of false devotion, which is also one of 
these common tendencies of our sinful nature, is to glory in 
party. This se6l devotion, this selfish party pride and 
bigotry, is one of the rifest vices all over Christendom, 



45^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



and deserves to be especially noted in its evil influences. 
// keeps our eyes blinded to our own defeats ^ in do5lrine^ faith^ 
and life. '' Our views, our faith, our condud," as a party, 
must be justified, as they now are. No man must raise 
even a doubt, or suggest any improvement or progress. 
If any one among us does not so "glory," and burn per- 
petual incense, as we do, to this party idolatry, let him be 
marked as false, and be denounced at once ; shake the 
party lash over him; conjure up before him the fearful 
phantoms of party vengeance. This evil spirit dooms 
a people to narrowness, stuntedness, weakness — to all the 
fatal effedls of mental and spiritual slavery. And among 
every people there are always, in abundance, these devotees 
to mere party, and they are always among the greatest 
human enemies religion has. It requires the least mind, 
the least intelligence, piety, and goodness, to be such a 
poor sedary. 

It prevents us from looking in the proper light at our fellow- 
beings. We can not, with this bad spirit, do justice to 
them. It fills us with the evil passions of jealousy and 
hate toward men that " are not of us," and makes us com- 
mit endless wrongs against them, and sin against God, 
and against the Spirit of the Gospel. // makes men indifferent 
to the means adopted to advance the party. The mere sec- 
tary glories in numbers, in numerical predominance, in 
ecclesiastical, triumphant superiority ; and, as the motive 
and the end are purely carnal, so the means adopted must 
necessarily be chiefly so. All is justified that advances 
''our Church;" all is denounced that opposes it. It is 
not a chief matter to the sedary to have souls converted 
to Christ, saved, and purified, redeemed from the world, 
and fitted for heaven. His highest aim and glory is in 
the outward triumph of seeing men join his Church. All 



C. L. LOOS. 459 



his ambition is utterly carnal. Yet all this time this poor, 
blinded vidim of this carnal passion imagines that he is 
fighting for God, and ^'for the faith once delivered to the 
saints;" and it is often beyond the power of God and man 
to make him see his error. 

But, above all, it keeps us from Christ, and makes us sin 
against him; for, this false objed of our pride, this evil 
spirit toward mankind which it inspires, this blindness to 
our own defeats and sins, and the general self-righteous- 
ness it begets and nourishes — all prevent us from know- 
ing and feeling the need, the objed, the power and bless- 
ings of the Cross of Christ, which ever reveals to us our 
own imperfedlions and sinfulness, calls us to love God 
and man, and teaches us that a ^^ new creature^' alone avails 
before God. 

The devotion to Christ and his Cross, expressed in the 
text, alone will save us from this debased form of idola- 
trous glorying. Let us beware of this fatal error, so de- 
lusive in appearance, but whose real form and life have 
ever been so ugly and repulsive, and whose ripe fruits so 
destrudlive to the true interests of the cause of Christ. 
Wide and fearful has been its power over the souls of men, 
and very stubborn its life and endurance. And let us re- 
member — and this especially for our own sakes, that it is 
a human, Adamic sin, having its origin and home in our 
common nature; and, therefore, let us be wisely and jeal- 
ously on our guard, lest we also be tempted and led away 
after the same manner of sin. 

We must not mistake this unhallowed party bigotry for 
the pure love and devotion due from every true Christian 
to his brethren and the Church and cause of Christ. The 
partisan glories only in external prosperity; but the true 
child of God in that which is real, the spiritual prosperity 



460 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



of the Church. His great joy is to lead men to Christ, 
to see his brethren become daily wiser and better, ''grow- 
ing in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior 
Jesus Christ." To this end he prays and labors that they 
may see their imperfections and sins; that these may be 
remedied and put away, and the Church put on her beau- 
tiful garments of truth, holiness, and love, and, in the 
strength of the Lord, go forth to conquer, "fair as the 
moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with ban- 
ners." 

Again : let not an ill-natured, hateful, carping fault-find- 
ing, that is devoid of all love and hope, and of all attach- 
ment to God's people; an all-despising, evil-speaking 
against the Church, be mistaken for a pure purpose to 
see and correal the errors in our midst, that God may be 
glorified among us. Paul, however clear his eye, and ready 
and bold his voice, to see, rebuke, and corre6l the defeds 
and sins of the brethren and churches, yet always revealed 
the fidelity and nobility of his heart in a generous ap- 
preciation and love of God's people. This we demand 
in every man among us ; and the censor that does not show 
these noble qualities must exped: a just and prompt rejec- 
tion of his censorship. 

Another common evil tendency is to glory in do5lrines. This 
very ready error is to be found boldly on the surface every- 
where throughout the whole history of the Church. It is, 
indeed, one of the most common of the unfortunate aber- 
rations of the human mind manifested in Christian history. 
Men very early, in the first years of the Church, began 
to grow in very devoted love with favorite dod:rines, and 
mistook thus, altogether, the true objed: proposed in our 
religion, of our faith and our love, our trust, joy, and 
glorying. // is substituting the means and the statement of 



C. L. LOOS. 461 



the obje^^ for the final obje^ itself to he reached by these means. 
This tendency shot into revolting, desolating maturity in 
one form in ancient Gnosticism. It makes men single out 
some dodrine or dogma as the objed of their blind, idol- 
atrous adoration and apostate glorying. We truly call it 
idolatry and apostasy \ for men's hearts, by it, stray away 
from Him as the only true objed of our devotion. It makes 
the heart vain, intolerant, and impious. How often do we 
see men rudely, and almost impiously, carry on a carnal 
warfare among men, not out of love to Christ and human- 
ity, not glorying and rejoicing, like Paul, in a crucified 
Redeemer, but in a do5irine, having nothing but this doc- 
trine and its triumphs in their eyes and hearts. These 
men only aim to convert men to their dodrines, and not 
to Christ. With them the favorite dodrine, and not 
Christ, is the first and the last, the alpha and the omega, 
the beginning and the end; that which was, and is, and is 
to come for evermore. The salvation of souls, the rescuing 
of men from sin, as brands from the eternal burning; the 
preparing of the spirits of men for the eternal holiness of 
heaven; the love of God and men in Christ, that ''con- 
strains " men to the glorious work of the Gospel — all these 
are things to which these dodrine-idolaters are strangers. 
Therefore, also, it is not seldom the case that when their 
glorying in doftrines has burnt out its earth-born flame, 
their faith, their joy, and hopes are at an end, and their de- 
votion and labors are over. With the novelty of the doc- 
trine, which was their only source of life and inspiration^ 
their zeal, too, passed away. That deep, exhaustless fount- 
ain of everlasting life and power which is found only in 
Christ, they knew not, and had never drunk from. Such men 
are those mere creed-devotees, who often, for their creeds, 
written or unwritten, long or short, will hate and lie, cal- 



462 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



umniate and scandalize, crucify and burn, all the time far 
away from Christ, his truth and his love. See, for exam- 
ple, those two men in the pulpit, in discussion. Observe 
in their eyes, and on their lips, the play of every carnal 
passion; note the low trickeries, the vulgar legerdemain, 
the shallow and dishonorable fallacies, the unmanly insin- 
uations against each other, the debasing appeals to party 
prejudices and hatreds — all so gross and revolting that the 
generous soul turns away with loathing and sorrow. And 
what, think you, are these two gladiators debating about? 
Do not be startled; they are vigorously discussing the 
question. How the Holy Spirit operates in the conversion and 
san£iification of men! — and both these valiant dodrine-de- 
fenders utter strangers to the Spirit of God and its blessed 
influence! 

Dodrines do not save us ; we are saved by Christ. Doc- 
trines do not cleanse us from our sins ; it is the efficacious 
blood of Christ. We are not converted to dodrines, but 
to God. We do not believe in dodrines, but in Christ. 
We are not baptized into them, but into Christ. We do 
not hope in them, trust in them, glory in them, but in 
Christ Jesus the Lord. 

He that makes a dodlrine the objed: and end of his 
glorying errs, whether that dodrine be true or false. But 
it is the testimony of all experience, and a logical result, 
that such glorying soon perverts and corrupts a true doc- 
trine into a false one. We say. Give up not one jot or 
tittle of heaven's holy truth. Contend earnestly for it. 
Make ever a broad, impassable distinction between the 
truths of the Bible and human errors. But remember, 
all these Divine lights are only designed to illuminate your 
pathway to Christ and his Cross; they are but the Divine 
forces to bring you to him. Reserve the worship and 



C. L. LOOS. 463 



glorying of your redeemed, joyful soul for him alone, 
as the End of all. Rest not with the dodrine; bow not 
before it. Never stand still till you have arrived at the 
feet of Jesus on the Cross; and thence, by the power of 
the Cross, press forward to the eternal throne of Him who 
is the "King of kings and Lord of lords." 

And there is yet another prominent form of this carnal 
glorying, another one of these common tendencies of a sinful 
nature, and than which none is more fatal to the spiritual 
life in the individual Christian man, or to the general 
cause of Christ on earth. It is that which glories in hu- 
man reason^ that "enemy of Christ and all righteousness," 
denominated, in modern days. Rationalism. It sets up in 
Religion, in the Bible, and in the Church, human reason 
as the sovereign monarch, as the human idol before whom 
all must bow, "of things in heaven, in the earth, and under 
the earth," of things in time and in eternity. Proudly 
it has sought to enthrone itself in the temple of God, 
showing itself that it is God." (2 Thess. ii: 4.) Before 
its sovereign didates and decisions all things must give 
way. In the interpretation of the Word of God, all things 
that are not in harmony with its carnal wisdom must be 
branded as false, and blotted out. Nothing so sacred, 
nothing so awfully Divine, nothing so dired and plain in 
the words of the Holy Spirit, that its impious, destruc- 
tive criticism, its proud human judgment can not degrade, 
dishonor, and rob of all its sacredness, its Divine power, 
and drag down to its own low conceptions of truth and 
reasonableness. It is, by way of pre-eminence, the power 
of impiety. It is, historically, in the diredest manner, of 
Satanic origin, having the spirit of the pride of the fallen 
archangel as its essential life. It was the inspiration and 
burden of the first temptation. "God alone is not the 



464 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



supreme, so\^ereign judge of right and wrong, of ^good 
and evil.' You yourselves, as men, have within yourselves ^ 
this sovereign wisdom. You yourselves, as men, can 'be as 
gods,' knowing good and evil; and what God has said, 
you must interpret in harmony with your reason, and the 
dictates of your lusts, even if it be to the exad: inversion 
of his words." Such was the burden of the tempter's 
words, and such has ever been, in essence, in spirit, and 
often in exad form, the voice of this Rationalism. 

Its voice is that of the siren, flattering to the easily- 
deluded ear of man. Its approaching step is covert and 
stealthy, as of the serpent, its prototype in Eden. Its 
purpose is concealed, but deadly. The fruit it offers to 
human taste is ''fair to behold," and pleasant to the car- 
nal, sinful appetite. Woe to him that heeds not the voice 
of warning; that makes not God, and his diredl word, in 
its plain, obvious meaning, his defense, as did Christ in 
his temptation ! Woe to him who, with evil lust, tastes 
of the fatal fruit! It will turn to gall and wormwood 
within him, and kill off the life of Christ in his soul. 

Of the terribly destructive history of Rationalism with- 
.n the last century it is not our purpose here to speak. 
It is not necessary. This history is now read, and known, 
and acknowledged of all men. We stop only to note, as 
precisely in place here, one important and most significant 
fad in the history of Rationalism. And that is, its fierce en- 
mity to the Cross of Christ. This has been the special point 
of its most violent and most incessant attacks. All that 
charaderizes the Cross; all that belongs to its history and 
significance — the hopeless sinfulness and depravity of man ; 
the perfed Godhood of Jesus Christ; the true charader of 
sin; the Biblical dodrine of the motive and of the neces- 
sity and purpose of the atonement; — all this, that together 



C. L. LOOS. 465 



constitutes the dodrine of the Cross, and alone gives it 
its meaning and power, has been, and is now, the obje6l of 
especial offense to the spirit of Rationalism. As it was to 
the Jews and to the Greeks of old, an offense and a fool- 
ishness, so it is to this spirit of proud glorying in human 
reason to-day. Nothing in all the history of the Church, 
not the Pope himself, has set itself more proudly in op- 
position to God and his Word, in the very bosom of the 
Church itself, than this proud idolatry of Reason. But 
as of old, so now Paul would say, that ''What to it, and to 
them that perish, is a stumbling-stone and foolishness, is 
to him, and to all that truly believe and are saved, the 
power of God and the wisdom of God." And what they 
despise, is to him the one chief objedt of glorying. 

But will our denouncing these errors be a sufficient guar- 
antee against our falling into them ? By no means. It is 
the singular blindness that accompanies these common errors 
that they often who are loudest in their denunciation, are 
the first to run the deepest into them. So the apostle 
speaks of those boasting of and promising liberty, who 
are themselves, all the while, the meanest slaves of the 
basest passions. The Quaker, while solemnly denouncing 
the vanity and obsoleteness of all external forms, is, for 
generations, notoriously and servilely in bondage to the 
very cut and color of his garments, the shape of his hat, 
and the obsolete forms of his speech, so that he can be 
easily discerned, 6ven from afar, by his ''outward appear- 
ance." The deluded or depraved vidims of the spiritual- 
ism of our land and of our day, have, long since, demon- 
strated to all that their pretension to the spiritual is only 
an excuse and a cloak for a swifter and more immediate de- 
scent to the vilest carnality. And so in other cases in- 
numerable. 
30 



466 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Mistaking the denunciation of an error for freedom from 
it, is one of the most every-day fa6ls and follies of human 
life. Let us not forget this. The closest and most can- 
did self-scrutinizing ; the most earnest and constant appeals 
for Divine aid; and the fullest acceptation and realization 
in all our soul of the words of our text, accompanied by 
a never-ceasing watchfulness over ourselves, alone will 
save us from these and other like fatal errors. 

Christ alone is the light and life of men ; therefore, to 
them to whom he is not, as in our text symbolically 
represented, the only source of light and life in religion, 
this religion is only a cold world of darkness and death. 
Falsest of false, a vanity of vanities, a bitterest deception, 
that blots out the celestial glories, and tears out the life- 
giving, life-disseminating heart of the Gospel of our re- 
demption — is every pretense of Christianity, however fair 
its voice and carnally attradive its form, in which Christ 
the crucified is not the sole joy, strength, and glory, the 
beginning and the end, the first and the last ! 

And let us not be misunderstood as to what we mean 
by '*^the Cross," by '^Christ the crucified;" for here again, 
as every-where else, fatal errors are made. Do we mean 
by it only, or chiefly, a noble example of life and death 
given to humanity; one who, by his pure life, his teaching 
of sublime, heavenly wisdom, and his martyr sufferings, is 
worthy of the highest admiration, the most ardent love, and 
the most generous emulation of men, and that saves men 
by his example of life and death, and the inspirations it af- 
fords ? Is this the sum and burden of our joy, our glory- 
ing, and our hope? No ! a thousand times, no ! None of 
these cheating acceptations of Christ, that rob him of his 
chief glory, and us of our chief joy and hope — is what 
Paul means, and what we rejoice in, though never so beau- 



C. L. LOOS. 467 



tifully and delusively expressed. It is Christ the cruci- 
fied, as the God-man, the Savior of men, ''the Lamb slain 
from the beginning," who shed his atoning^ expiating, sac- 
rificial blood for the sins of the world, as the only price that 
purchased our redemption, and thus to man the only hope 
in life and death. With the proud, Christ-degrading ne- 
gations of Unitarianism, in every possible shape and form, 
from that highest type of ancient Arianism to that lowest 
of modern Socinianism, the words of Paul, in our text, 
and our acceptation of it as our joy and confidence in its 
teaching and spirit, are forever utterly irreconcilable. 

Let this Divine and blessed Redeemer — as we see him 
and hear him on earth, " going about every-where doing 
good," by his heavenly teaching and his heavenly works 
of love and power; as we behold him on the Cross, suffer-, 
ing for a sinful world ; and as we see him in heaven tri- 
umphant — ever be our only joy, honor, strength, and 
hope, our exceeding great reward, our present and ever- 
lasting glory. And may this holy and single devotion to 
him, filling all our soul, be the star of our life, to guide 
us, finally, to his own eternal dwelling-place in the Father's 
presence, ''where there is fullness of joy, and to his right 
hand, where there are pleasures for evermore." 

"God forbid that our souls should ever glory, save in 
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which alone the 
world is crucified to us, and we to the world!" Amen, 




A 



'^-1^ 



ISAAC ERRETT. 



A MONG the preachers and writers of the nineteenth century who have 
-^"^ plead for a return to primitive Christianity, the subjefl of this notice 
stands pre-eminently among the most distinguished. For more than thirty- 
five years he has been connedled with the Disciples, and, during the greater 
portion of that time, has been an earnest, able, and successful advocate of 
their plea for reformation. 

Isaac Errett was born in the city of New York, January 2, 1820. 
His father was a native of Arklow, county of Wicklow, Ireland, and his 
mother was a native of Portsmouth, England. His paternal grandfather 
was shot down in sight of his own house during the Irish rebellion of 
1798. His immediate parents were both of Protestant families, and be- 
came identified with the Disciples in New York City as early as 181 1 — 
the father being an elder in the original Church in that place. Hence, the 
son was trained from infancy in the principles which he now cherishes, 
and, in the spring of 1832, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — where his mother 
had moved soon after the death of his father, who died in 1825 — when 
only a little over twelve years of age, at a time when the Church was with- 
out preaching, under the instru6lion of his mother, he, in company with 
an older brother, went forward and asked the privilege of baptism. He 
was baptized by Robert McLaren, one of the elders of the Church. 

He now became a diligent student of the Word of God, and, under many 
embarrassing circumstances, made constant and encouraging progress. From 
the time he was ten years old, he has been dependent upon his own personal 
exertions for a living; hence, his respeftable education has been gathered, 
in the midst of toil and care, by dint of untiring, industrious application. 
While laboring as farmer, miller, lumberman, bookseller, printer, school- 
teacher, and editor, he has never ceased to augment his stock of useful 
knowledge, and to use whatever opportunities he had for the develop- 
ment and discipline of his mental powers. 

He commenced preaching in the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 
the spring of 1840, and soon gave promise of the distinguished position 
which he has since held as a preacher of the Gospel. He enjoyed the 

(469J) 



470 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



advantages of frequent and intimate association with Walter Scott, 
Thomas Campbell, Alexander Campbell, and most of the early advo- 
cates of primitive Christianity in the West; and his association with these 
men was of incalculable advantage to him, for they not only gave him val- 
uable instruction in the principles of the Reformation, but he was enabled, 
by coming in frequent conta6l with them, to draw inspiration from their 
lives and charafters for the great work upon which he had entered. 

His ministerial labors have been divided between the work of an evan- 
gelist and pastor. He was pastor of a church in Pittsburgh three years; 
New Lisbon, Ohio, five years; North Bloomiield, Ohio, two years; War- 
ren, Ohio, five years; Muir and Ionia, Michigan, eight years; and De- 
troit, Michigan, two years. At all these points he was eminently suc- 
cessful, and, besides his regular pastoral labors, did considerable work in 
the general field. He removed to V/arren, Ohio, in 1 85 1, and, while 
there, was Corresponding Secretary of the Ohio Missionary Society three 
years; and it was he who first put that society into systematic and aftive 
operation. In 1856, he removed his family to Ionia County, Michigan, 
and, while laboring to build up a congregation at that point, he was pre- 
vailed upon to take the Corresponding Secretaryship of the American 
Christian Missionary Society, which position he held three years, and 
succeeded in bringing the society to a degree of prosperity which it had 
never before reached. When he resigned the Secretaryship, he was ap- 
pointed first Vice-President, and afterward presided at the annual meet- 
ings of the Society until 1866, when he was eledled President. This, 
however, he at once declined. In the spring of 1866 he removed to 
Cleveland, Ohio, where he now resides, and edits the " Christian Stan- 
dard," a religious weekly published in that city. 

Brother Errett's personal appearance is striking and prepossessing. He 
is about six feet one inch high, has dark auburn hair, light gray eyes, and a 
well-developed muscular organization. As a public speaker, he has few, 
if any, superiors. His language is chaste and copious, containing an unusu- 
ally large per cent, of Saxon words; his gesticulation easy and natural, but 
^his voice, though well under control, has not volume enough to give full 
force to his beautiful and stirring thoughts. His writings, like his ser- 
mons, are full of strong and rugged points, and are frequently interspersed 
with brilliant passages of exquisite beauty that will compare favorably with 
many of the finest word-paintings in the English language. 

In the social circle he is companionable, but not a very good conversa- 
tionalist. He needs the inspiration of an audience, or the quiet solitude 
of the study, to bring out his full strength ; hence, while he is pleasant in 
company — full of wit and humor — he does not appear there to the best 
advantage. 



THL LAW OF PROGRESSIVE 
DEVELOPMENT. 



BY ISAAC -ERRETT. 



"And he said, So is the Kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed 
into the ground, and should sleep and rise, night and day, and the seed should 
spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the eartli bringeth forth 
fruit of herself; first, the blade ; then the ear: after that, the full corn in the 
ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, 
because the harvest is come." — Mark iv : 26-29. 

THE Law of Progressive Development is operative 
alike in nature and in grace. I have no confidence 
in the development theory which seeks to trace up all the 
forms of animated nature from monads, by regular devel- 
opment or spontaneous generation, and even to give the 
history of worlds and universes of matter, from a nebulous 
infancy through a patient growth into the solar and stellar 
magnificences that now gem the heavens. This stupen- 
dous effort to banish a personal Creator and to subdue all 
things — even the workings of mind, the movements of 
nations, and all historical developments, to the operation 
of blind and resistless forces of materialism, is at war with 
the fundamental idea of a Divine revelation, and can have 
no sympathy where faith rests in a Divine Creator, who 
spake, and it was done; who commanded, and it stood fast. 
Yet the fad that such a theory commands the advocacy of 

(471) 



472 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



distinguished and honored names in science and literature, 
shows that there is a sufficient groundwork of fads to in- 
vest it with plausibility. What geology has unfolded of 
a sublime series of creations and destructions in the history 
of our earth, and the just analogies of nature, which pro- 
ceed from this starting point, render it probable that this 
law of progressive development pervades the universe. 
However this may be, we are certain in regard to its op- 
eration in and on our own globe, in the realms of matter 
and of mind. Life is growth, development, from a germ 
of existence through successive stages of infancy, child- 
hood, youth, to manhood's perfedion: "first the blade, 
then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." And the 
kingdom of heaven, in the text, is likened to this; thus 
teaching us that the laws of the kingdom of grace are an- 
alogous to those of the kingdom of nature ; that religion 
does not outrage the established laws of matter or of mind; 
that the volumes of nature and revelation are from the 
same author, in the same handwriting; and that the same 
principles of rational investigation, which we carry with us 
in the interpretation of the former, are equally legitimate 
and necessary in the interpretation of the latter. 

It has long been a mischievous delusion that the opera- 
tions of grace are, if not lawless, at least out of sympathy 
and out of harmony with the known laws of mind; that 
religion is not a science to be learned, or a life to be de- 
veloped; that religious faith has nothing in common with 
other faith; that religious peace and happiness ignore all 
the established conditions of peace and happiness; that a 
touch of magic or of miracle flashes light on the mind, 
peace on the conscience, and joy on the soul ; and that, like 
Minerva from the head of Jupiter, the child of God springs 
from the bosom of the supernatural, full-armed, into life. 



ISAAC ERRETT. 473 



It may be well, therefore, to examine the law of prog- 
ress announced in the text, and, in its light, obtain more 
satisfactory and profitable views of the ways of God to 
man. We propose to examine the operations of this law 

I. In the Gradual Unfolding of the Purpose of 
God in the Plan of Redemption. 

II. In the Development of Individual Life and 
Character. 

III. Inthe Historical Developmentofthe Church. 

Our purpose in this is not a complete elaboration of our 
theme — for this the limits of a sermon will not allow — but 
to furnish such outlines and landmarks as will enable the 
reader to pursue the investigation for himself ; giving him 
such an insight into some of the laws and methods of the 
Divine government as will assist him more intelligently to 
survey, and more rationally to enjoy, the salvation of God. 

I. The Gradual Unfolding of the Purpose of God 
in the Plan of Redemption. 

It has been with unbelievers a standing obje6lion to the 
plan of salvation, and a source of embarrassment to many 
believers also, that the fullness of the Gospel was not com- 
municated immediately on the fall of man. '^ Why," they 
ask, ''must four thousand years elapse before the Savior 
appears ? Why, for two thousand years must the favor of 
God be confined to a single family and nation, while all 
the rest of mankind are left to perish in their sins ? " And 
why, we ask in return, does this law of progressive develop- 
ment obtain at all? Why must man begin In puling In- 
fancy, a,nd grow Into manhood, slowly developing not only 
his physical frame, but his mental and moral charaderistlcs 
likewise? Why Is not knowledge flashed Instantaneously 



474 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



into the mind, rather than left to be acquired slowly and 
painfully through a thousand struggles and repeated fail- 
ures ? Why must we have toys for infancy, and objed-les- 
sons for childhood, and carry the learner patiently through 
elementary instructions before he can grasp broad generali- 
zations, or master the mysteries of any science? Why do 
nations grow, and ages move in cycles ? Why did nations, 
without a revelation from God, struggle so long in vain 
with the problems of duty and destiny ? At the very time 
when this obje6lion was most loudly urged, unbelievers 
were looking to geology, to find such revelations in the 
stone-book as would forever silence the pretensions of the 
Bible. But, lo ! when these revelations were made, the 
same lesson of progressive development was written on 
every page ; the same calmness and patience were every- 
where traceable in the Divine Archited's plan of building 
a world. If we could say no more, we could be content 
in saying that this gradual unfolding of redemption is of 
a piece with the gradual unfolding of creation. 

We are far from saying, however, that we are ignorant 
of any reason for this slow progression. Nay, we see rea- 
sons for it in redemption, that we could not plead in behalf 
of progressive development in creation. It is consistent 
with our best ideas of Omnipotence that a world or a uni- 
verse of matter should be spoken into instant perfedlion 
of existence. But it is not consistent with our knowledge 
of the rational nature of man that Omnipotence should 
instantaneously redeem it from error and guilt. Omnip- 
otence might, perhaps, instantaneously annihilate such a 
nature, but certainly can not instantaneously save it ; be- 
cause the salvation of a rational nature implies that the 
nature itself desires to be saved; that it is weary of sin; is 
conscious of its curse; has trust in a Savior; and peniten- 



ISAAC ERRETT. 475 



tially returns to submission to the will of God. These 
are not the results of mere omnipotence. Some of them 
are results which can only flow from man's own experience. 
To know the whole bitterness and curse of sin; to know 
man's inability to redeem himself from its power and guilt; 
to attain to such a knowledge of human helplessness and 
hopelessness that a sinning race shall be willing to come, 
sin-sick and heart-broken, to cast themselves imploringly 
on the mercy of God — these are results which can only 
be reached through long and varied experiences, through 
repeated demonstrations, in human history, of man's de- 
pravity and helplessness, and of God's compassion and 
mercy. Therefore, when men did not like to retain God 
in their knowledge, he gave them up to their own ways, 
(Rom. i: 21-32,) until, like the prodigal son, their herit- 
age wasted in riotous living, and every step plunging them 
into deeper want, they should be prepared to say, ''/ will 
arise and go to my Father T 

Meanwhile, Divine Wisdom set on foot such remedial 
measures as the condition of the race demanded, and de- 
veloped these, step by step, during a long period of Divine 
forbearance, while the human experiment of self-govern- 
ment and self-redemption was pending. Let us glance at 
the landmarks which indicate this progressive development 
of Divine mercy. 

1. A promise is made to the first sinful pair that the 
seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. (Gen. 
iii: 15.) Here the seed of the Divine purpose is cast into 
the ground. 

2. Abraham is chosen as the founder of a nation, with 
the promise. In thy seed shall all nations be blessed. [Q^xi. 
xii: 3.) Here the seed is germinating. 

3. The Jewish nation appears, and is taken into cove- 



47^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



nant with God, as a peculiar people. Here the blade 
springs forth. 

It was not for themselves, but for the sake of the apos- 
tate nations, that the Jews were eleded to be a peculiar 
people, that through them truth might be preserved and 
disseminated, and the way be prepared for the ultimate 
return of the prodigal wanderers. Hence their location 
in the geographical center of the earth, as then known. 
Hence God's movements, through them, on the most 
powerful and enlightened nations of antiquity. It is 
worthy of remark, that Jehovah's movements were at the 
great centers of learning, religion, and authority — the ra- 
diating centers of the world. Through Israel he moved 
on Egypt and her idols, and radiated thence over the earth 
the knowledge of the true God; and similarly on Nine- 
veh, Babylon, Ecbatana, Susa, and thence on all the prov- 
inces of vast empires. The books of Esther, Ezra, Ne- 
hemiah, and Daniel, as well as many other portions of the 
Old Testament, show how, through the Jews, alike in their 
vidiories and defeats, as a powerful nation at home, or as 
helpless captives abroad, knowledge was disseminated, sin 
denounced, idolatry overturned, justice asserted, mercy 
displayed, hopes of a coming Deliverer awakened, until, to 
a much greater extent than a superficial reader of the Bible 
would suppose, the leaven of Divine truth was deposited 
with the nations. The blade is growing. Jewish and 
heathen authors attest that, before the Messiah appeared, 
a general expectation of a Divine Redeemer had been 
awakened. Equally true is it, from all authentic testimo- 
nies, that at this .time men were every-where weary of their 
own experiments, and had been driven to the conclusion 
that a Divine hand must save, or the race be hopelessly 
abandoned. 



ISAAC ERRETT. 477 



A complete view of this subjedl would require us to 
notice the respedive missions providentially assigned to 
other nations, all subservient to the one great purpose of 
preparing the world for the coming of the Savior — the 
golden thread stretching across the ages, on which all in- 
fluential events were divinely strung; but our space for- 
bids us to undertake the task. 

4. Jesus is born. He comes when the world is waiting 
for him with eager expedancy; when the spread of the 
Roman empire has so far unified the interests of the na- 
tions as to prepare the way for the universal spread of the 
Gospel; when the Roman civilization is sinking in its 
dotage, and with it is departing the last hope of success in 
solving the problem of human regeneration; when human 
religions and philosophies have lost their inspiration, 
and over the ruins of ancient systems a shuddering skep- 
ticism dismally broods ; when, from all quarters of the 
globe, men are looking with vague desire to the land of 
Judea for deliverance, and the wretched prodigals from all 
lands are sighing for a return to their Father's house. 

• The purposes of God are ripening. The stars in the 
Jewish firmament are paling. John the Harbinger, the 
morning star, joyfully heralds the approaching sun, in 
whose beams are to be found life and health for all peoples. 
The Son of God is made known. Gentile sinners and 
Samaritans seek him for the blessings of his love. The 
corn is in the ear; and, in a full knowledge of the speedy 
approach of the time when he' shall draw all men unto him, 
he says : Lift up your eyes and look on the fields^ for they are 
white already to harvest ; and he that reapeth receive th wages 
and gather eth fruit unto life eternal^ that both he that soweth 
and he that reapeth may rejoice together. (John iv : -^i^^ 2^.) 

Thus, while the Divine forbearance allowed ages to 



47^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



come and go, waiting till a rebellious race should weary 
of its selfhood, and come back in submission to its Sove- 
reign, Divine wisdom selected and employed individuals, 
families, tribes, nations, through whom to com.municate 
his intentions and reveal his will. And step by step can 
we trace, through the history of four thousand years, the 
unfolding of the eternal and unchangeable purpose of God 
to save men by his Son, Jesus Christ. 

This sketch, we are aware, is too brief to be satisfadory, 
except for starting inquiry. But it is sufficiently clear to 
prepare us for one conclusion of immense importance to 
all v/ho would understand the Bible, namely, the Old Test- 
ament is no longer a book of authority. The stars shine no 
longer in presence of the sun. The blade and ear are no 
longer trusted in, after the full grain in the ear has been 
obtained. The revelations and ordinations of former ages 
were preparatory. They belonged to the infancy and child- 
hood of the race. They were pidlorial, ritualistic, adum- 
brative. The law was a pedagogue to bring men to Christ. 
But now tl^at faith is come, we are no longer under the 
pedagogue. (Gal. iii: 24, 25.) The same God, who, at 
sundry times and in divers parcels, spoke unto the fathers 
by the prophets, has now spoken by his Son, not the words 
of a temporary law, but of the '^ everlasting Gospel;" and 
has established, not a kingdom to be shaken and destroyed, 
but a kingdom which can not be shaken. (Heb. xii: 28.) 

Leaving this ante-christian development of the king- 
dom of heaven, we proceed to notice — 

II. The development of Individual Christian Life 
AND Character. 

In this application of the text — and we do it no violence 
in thus applying it, for the principle is still the same. 



ISAAC ERRETT. 479 



whether applied to individuals, societies, or nations — 
there are four things worthy of note. 

I. There is a seed, containing the germ of all spiritual 
life, without which the fruits of righteousness and holi- 
ness can not be grown. That seed is the word of God — 
the truth of the Gospel. (Luke viii: ii,) 

1. There is a soil in which that seed must be deposited, 
to cause it to grow. That soil is the human heart; and 
as ''the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself" — automat- 
ically, by virtue of her native (rapacities, and through the 
certain, though mysterious, chemistry by which the ever- 
present God elaborates life, and bloom, and fruitfulness 
from the dull clod of the valley — so is the spiritual nature 
of man possessed of capacities for automatic development 
of the truth it has received. The truth of God is adapted 
to our nature, and the soul ''brings forth fruit of herself," 
by virtue of her own capacities and powers for receiving, 
digesting, and appropriating truth. It is this that clothes 
our rational nature with fearful responsibility. 

3. Men plant and water — God gives the increase. We 
are at last dependent on Him who gives the seed-time and 
the harvest; w^ho gives sunbeams, and showers, and all 
needful heavenly blessings to crown the labors of man with 
success, to multiply the seed sown, and increase the fruits 
of our toil. 

4. The life that springs from this germ, through this 
soil, is feeble in its beginnings, and grows into complete- 
ness; "first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn 
in the ear." 

How sadly mistaken are bur conceptions of religious 
life! We have been taught to rely so much on religious 
experiences, and have listened to so many extravagant nar- 
rations of the miraculous transformations instantaneously 



480 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



wrought, that we are constantly looking for the kingdom 
to come "with observation/* with signs and wonders, and 
outward display. We fail to learn that the kingdom of 
God is within us, in the truth which an honest heart has 
welcomed, in the faith to which that truth has led us. We 
look for the earthquake, tempest, and fire in which God 
is not, and fail to hear the "still, small voice,'* in which 
God is. 

There will always be great variety of psychological mani- 
festation attendant on conversion, because of the great 
variety of physical organization, temperament, and educa- 
tion. Yet, as a general rule, especially in Christian lands, 
where we grow from infancy into the knowledge of the 
Gospel, there will be found a silent working of truth in the 
heart and conscience, and a growth into life, silent and grad- 
ual, but beautiful and progressive. The New Testament 
Scriptures every-where contemplate spiritual life as a 
growth from small beginnings ; as involving necessarily the 
weakness of infancy, and the struggles of childhood, ere we 
are prepared for the ripeness of manhood. The child of 
God, when born of water and Spirit, is but a babe. The 
faith and baptism that bring him into Christ but enable 
him to begin to live in "newness of life." And this life, 
like all other life, depends for its perpetuation and devel- 
opment on food, air, and exercise. 

1. Truth is the Christian's food, milk first, meat after- 
ward. As new-horn babes earnestly desire the pure^ spiritual 
milky that you may grow thereby, (i Pet. ii: 2.) 'Thy words 
were found, and I did eat them ; and thy word was unto me 
the joy and the rejoicing of my heart, (Jer. xv: 16.) 

2. The atmosphere of the kingdom of God is a pure 
atmosphere; we "live in the Spirit," and "walk in the 
Spirit." It is essential that we keep our place within the 



ISAAC ERRETT. * 4^1 



limits of the kingdom; for, outside its walls there are 
marshes of unbelief and carnality, whose malarious ex- 
halations wither the life of all who inhale them. 

3. The exercise to which we are called consists of the 
delightful adiivities of faith and love to which the exam- 
ple of Christ and of the primitive Church leads us. 

All these are essential to the fullness of life. We may 
eat, and not thrive, if we live in a bad atmosphere. We 
may live in a pure atmosphere, and languish, if we refuse 
to eat, or if we eat forbidden fruit. We may have good 
food and pure air, and still be dwarfed, if we fail to exer- 
cise ourselves unto godliness — to employ all our ransomed 
powers to do good to man, and to give praise to God. 

With these premises before us, we deduce some con- 
clusions of practical importance. 

I. Many fear that they were never converted, because 
there has been nothing extraordinary to mark their transit 
from death to life. But this arises from the use of human 
standards of conversion, and a foolish comparison of our- 
selves with others. The apostolic tests were different. 
He that believetb that Jesus is the Christ, has been begotten 
of God. (i Jno. V : I.) Every one that works righteousness has 
been begotten by him. (i Jno. ii: 29.) Every one that loves 
has been begotten of God. (i Jno. iv: 7.) We know that we 
' have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. 
(i Jno. "iii: 12.) If the kingdom of God is within us, and 
is like to a man that sowed seed in his held, we must have 
our eye on small beginnings, and test the genuineness of 
our life by the chara6ler of its growth. The first con- 
verts to Christ began with slender capital. They learned 
simply to put their trust in Jesus as their Lord and Sav- 
ior, and, for his sake, to renounce their sins. They were 
then baptized into Christ, and placed in the Church — the 
31 



482 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



plantation of grace — where, from this germinal faith, they 
might, in God's own sunshine, watered with the dews of 
his love, and sustained by the Spirit's inspiring breath, 
develop the blade, the ear, the full corn in the ear. 

2. Many doubt their acceptable standing, because they 
fall, in acflual life, so far below their ideal. They have 
many imperfedions, many conflids with evil, and even 
many sins. This, they think, could not be if they were 
Christians; especially in view of the inspired declaration. 
He that has been begotten of God does not commit sin, ( i J no. iii : 
9.) But if Christian life is 3. growth, of course our attain- 
ments must fall below our ideal. Why doubt that the 
tender spear, that first breaks through the clod, is wheat, 
because you see no ''ear" on it such as your ideal grain- 
stalk has ? It IS growing to that. Are you growing in grace 
and in knowledge? Are you gaining additional victories 
over weakness and impulse? Is your hand growing stead- 
ier and more skillful in holding the helm to guide your 
vessel through the storm? Then remember that it is first 
the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. 
Remember, too, that childhood is a period of struggle 
and of peril, and that the symmetry and strength of man- 
hood are gained only through toil and conflid, overcom- 
ing opposition and failure. True, he that is begotten of 
God does not work sin; it is not his vocation; he pursues 
it not as his calling; that which he works at is righteous- 
ness. Yet he may be a feeble worker, and sometimes a 
failing one; but the greatest of all questions to settle is, 
does he grow in the right direction ? 

3. Many are living in the past. They have no growth. 
They had an overgrown infancy — a precocious piety — and 
now they are spiritual dwarfs. They have grand stories 
to tell of their conversion, and it is all they have to tell. 



ISAAC ERRETT. 483 



The abundant blossoms of their spring-time have brought 
no fruitage. There was a blade of great promise, but it 
never yielded grain in the ear. Beware of these preten- 
tious beginnings. Mourn not if thy faith is like a grain 
of mustard seed; only let it grow until it becomes a tree. 
But we hasten to consider, in the last place, the opera- 
tion of this law, 

in. In the Historical Development of Chris- 
tianity. 

The Jews, ignorant of this law, were looking for a king- 
dom to appear, in full-grown might and splendor, to com- 
mand the instant submission of the nations. Yet Daniel 
had predided it as a stone cut out of the mountain without 
hands. (Dan. ii: 34.) Not by mighty nor by power ^ but by 
my Spirit^ (Zech. iv: 6,) was the decree of Jehovah, touch- 
ing the eredlion of this spiritual edifice, which ^^groweth 
unto a holy temple in the Lord." 'The kingdom of God 
co'meth not with outward display^ (Luke xvii: 20,) said the 
Teacher. Its sole original herald was an obscure Naza- 
rite, in coarse garments, lifting up his voice in the wilder- 
ness, and soon arrested, imprisoned, and beheaded. Then 
comes the lowly Nazarene, attended by a feeble band of 
poor people. He spends a few years in works of mercy, 
and in peregrinations through the land of Judea, to in- 
struct the people. Then, without leaving a written speech 
behind him, or a page of written history, or an organized 
society, he yields himself meekly to a dishonorable death. 
The shepherd is smitten, and the sheep are scattered. 
Next, we see one hundred and twenty disciples assembled 
in an upper room in Jerusalem. They are poor. They 
are unlettered. They are unpolished. They are without 
public influence. They are on their knees, in prayer and 



484 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



supplication^ waiting for the promised Spirit of Truth. 
The germ of all the life, dominion, and grandeur of the 
kingdom of heaven is in the keeping of that little band. 
When we remember that this was in the Augustan age, when 
Rome*s imperial power and greatness filled all the world 
with awe; and then refled that Rome's imperial grandeur, 
and the military prowess that supported it, and all that 
made that vast dominion the terror of foes, and the pride 
of citizens, has long since passed away, leaving to us only 
the hopeless wrecks of her greatness, and the melancholy 
history of her decline and fall ; while the kingdom, whose 
fortunes lay sleeping in the hearts of that little assembly 
in Jerusalem, survives the decay of empires, of races, and 
of religions, sways the destinies of nations, and is to-day 
the most puissant of the moral forces at work in the world ; 
we may well divorce our souls from the cheating splendors 
of material greatness and the triumphs of brute force, and 
bring our votive offerings to the King of Truth, whose 
vidories are bloodless and immortal. 

Itwas indeed a small seed — a diminutive lump of leaven — 
a little stone ; but it has grown to be a great tree whose roots 
strike into every soil, and whose branches shelter nations 
and continents; it has leavened the literature, science, ju- 
risprudence, and commercial, social, and domestic life of 
the most powerful and enlightened nations of the earth; 
it has broken in pieces the once worshipful tyrannies and 
superstitions of universal empires, and from a little stone 
is becoming a great mountain. 

This, it is true, has not been speedily accomplished. The 
first springing of the blade was speedy and promising. But, 
as with the seed which the farmer sows in the autumn, which 
springs at once into beautiful life, the frosts of winter lock 
it up, and the snows of winter hide it away, and the storms 



ISAAC ERRETT. 485 



of winter howl over its grave, as if in dismal prophesy of 
utter ruin, so that any one ignorant of the wonderful ways 
of God would regard the labor and hopes of the husband- 
man an utter failure; so here, after the beautiful upspring- 
ing of the seed of the kingdom in the first century, came 
on the reign of a fierce winter of adversity, when the king- 
dom was hidden from the view of men, and the persecuting 
rage of the nations swept over- it, until to one unskilled in 
the workings of Providence, the cause of Christ was a fail- 
ure. But the spring's sweet influence comes, in nature's 
regular course, and melts the ice-bands, and breaks the fet- 
ters of frost, and opens the bosom of earth, so long locked 
up in sullenness, to the sun's diredler ray; and the quick- 
ened pulses of life thrill through all her frame, and her 
hidden treasures of bloom, and fragrance, and fruitfulness 
are brought forth to enrich and adorn the desolate surface 
of the earth, and it is found, at last, that stern winter was 
performing a necessary work, and helping on, in strange, 
mysterious ways, the glories of the harvest-time. And so 
in the moral world, after a long reign of wintry desolation, 
during which it seemed as if truth had perished, the vernal 
season of rejoicing came at last, heralded by such warblers 
as Wyclif, Huss, and Jerome, who, like robins, came with 
the first gleams of rosy light and the first breath of spring, 
out from the darkness and the cold, sweet harbingers of 
better times. There were, indeed, a few of God's min- 
strels who had never ceased to sing. Away in the mount- 
ain solitudes of the Alps and the Appenines, hidden in the 
deserts, caged up in the caves, God gave them '' songs in the 
night" w^hich they never ceased to carol. Some of their 
lays were sweet memories of the past, and some of them 
gay prophecies of the coming glory of the kingdom. And 
many a brave heart that lay bleeding in despair, weary of 



486 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



watching for the morning, faithless of any returning spring- 
time, and ready to ask, on the brink of utter faithlessness, 
"Who will show us any good?" had been charmed into 
new hope and courage, and had risen for new toils and suf- 
ferings. And the spring-time came ; and the blade, so long 
hidden, grew into vigor and fruitfulness. The Bible re- 
appears ; the Christ is again proclaimed Lord of the con- 
science and Savior of the soul. His quickening voice 
again goes forth, and nations spring into new life, and go 
after him, out of darkness into light — out of slavery into 
freedom — out of a dismal stagnation of soul into heroic 
activities and gloriously free adventures — out of weakness, 
and sin, and inglorious vassalage, into strength and right- 
eousness, and the priceless treasures of civil and religious 
liberty. The Protestant Reformation, with all its blessed 
fruits of intelligence, liberty, and progress, was the spring- 
time of the Kingdom of God. The blade grows and the 
ear appears. 

But "the full corn in the ear" has not yet been seen. 
Between spring and harvest there is a season of peril for 
the grain. It is subjedt to upheavals by frosts and thaws; 
to raids of inseds, which burrow into the very heart and 
root of its treasures; to the sweep of storms and the tramp 
of beasts ; out of all these perils we clutch with joy at last 
the golden sheaves. Analogous to this has been the his- 
tory of the kingdom since Luther*s Reformation. We can 
not trace a steady and prosperous growth. There have 
been many drawbacks, many sad failures, many heavy dis- 
asters; but still the fields wave in golden beauty and rich- 
ness, and glow with promise of a coming harvest. The 
brightest day of promise is yet to come. We have seen 
the stone break the image, and roll on with accumulative 
magnitude; but we have not yet seen it "fill the whole 



ISAAC ERRETT. 487 



earth." We have seen the witnesses of God, that prophesied 
in sackcloth, slain, and have witnessed their rising; but we 
have not yet heard the seventh trumpet proclaim : T^he king- 
doms of this world are becoyne the kingdoms of our Lord and 
of his Christy and he shall reign forever and ever, (Rev. xi : 
1-15.) We see "the man of sin" consumed by the spirit 
of the Lord's mouth, but we have not yet seen him de- 
stroyed by the brightness of the Lord's coming. (2 Thess. 
ii: 8.) The kingdom, is not yet given, "under the whole 
heaven," to " the people of the -saints of the Most High." 
We can not enter here on the question of the millennium 
farther than to say that we look for no such materialistic 
and sensuous, if not sensual, paradise as many seem to 
exped:; we leave all such carnal dreams to Mohammedans 
and Mormons ; nor yet do we look for such a universal 
spiritual triumph as many others hope for. This world 
can not, while it lasts, be other than a scene of trial — of 
probation; but we do look for "the full corn in the ear," 
for such a spread of truth and triumph of righteousness as 
has never yet been seen; for such an overthrow of beasts 
and false prophets, such a splash, and gurgle, and roar of 
waters when Babylon, like a millstone, is cast into the sea; 
such an overthrow of tyrannies, oppressions, superstitions, 
and impostures, and such a recognition of the supremacy 
of the Lord Jesus, on the very earth which was the theater 
of his suffering and shame, as shall vindicate the long- 
suffering, the wisdom, and the justice of God. And we 
feel like saying to our blessed Lord, so long insulted and 
rejeded, as the fields grow white to the harvest — as the 
morning-star glows with unusual brilliancy in the heavens — 
as the dim twilight of the past gives way to the roseate hues 
of a gay morning — as we listen to crash after crash of fall- 
ing errors and wrongs, and catch the notes of one and 



488 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



another song of deliverance — -we feel like saying, in the 
beautiful language of Cowper: 

" Come, then, and, added to thy many crowns. 
Receive yet one, the crown of all the Earth, 
Thou who alone art worthy ! It was thine 
By ancient covenant, ere Nature's birth ; 
And thou hast made it thine by purchase since. 
And overpaid its value with thy blood. 
Thy saints proclaim thee King; and in their hearts 
Thy title is engraven with a pen 
Dipped in the fountain of eternal love. 
Thy saints proclaim thee King ; and thy delay 
Gives courage to their foes, who, could they see 
The dawn of thy last advent, long desired. 
Would creep into the bowels of the hills. 
And flee for safety to the falling rocks. 
The very spirit of the world is tired 
Of its own taunting question, asked so long, 
' Where is the promise of your Lord's approach?* 
The infidel has shot his bolts away. 
Till, his exhausted quiver, yielding none. 
He gleans the blunted shafts that have recoiled. 
And aims them at the shield of Truth again. 

Come, then, and, added to thy many crowns. 
Receive yet one, as radiant as the rest. 
Due to thy last and most ejffedlual work. 
Thy word fulfilled, the conquest of a world!" 

From this phase of our subject we deduce some pradi* 
cal refledions, with which this discourse will be concluded. 

I. Whatever triumph is yet to come, is to be the result 
of moral power. ^^The full corn in the ear" is but the 
full development of the germ in the seed sown, and has 
the same source as the blade and the ear. We must not 
grow skeptical, then, as to the conquering power of the 



ISAAC ERRETT. 489 



truth. There are many whose faith In the triumph of 
truth Is paralyzed ; and, In sheer skepticism as to the 
deathless force of the word of God, they are seeking com- 
fort In the wildest imaginings of earthquake, and fire, and 
tempest, to close the scenes of time. They Indulge In the 
most dolorous croakings over the hopeless degeneracy of 
the times, and overwhelm with evil vaticinations every 
hopeful enterprise for the world's salvation. Dante has 
placed in one of his hells such as predldled future events. 
Their punishment Is to have fheir faces reversed, and set 
the contrary way on their bodies, so that they are com- 
pelled to look and walk backward. It seems to us that 
many of our modern prophets have had their heads re- 
versed even here, so that their lugubrious gaze is led Into 
the past rather than the future; and they find- more ma- 
terial for reflection in the wrecks of past struggles than in 
the promises of coming triumphs. We should carefully 
guard against such a paralysis of faith. The triumphs of 
our King are assigned, In the Scriptures, to moral power. 
As a King, he is King of Truth. It Is In this that his 
kingdom Is declared to be " not of this world." Were 
the raging passions of men to be subdued until harmony 
would reign over the scenes of former discord and cruelty? 
The reason given Is : For the earth shall be full of the knowl- 
edge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Isa. xi: 6—9.) 
Is Babylon to fall ? That fall Is preceded by the mission 
of an angel having the everlasting Gospel to preach to 
every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. (Rev. 
xiv: 6-8.) Are wars to cease, and peace to brood, dove- 
like, over all the earth ? The reason given Is : For the law 
shall go forth from Zion., and the word of the Lord from Jeru- 
salem. (Isa. 11: 1-4.) It may seem like a slender reliance; 
but It lives to plant its standard over the ruins of colossal 



490 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



empires that once sought to destroy it with the sword ! 
It is not alone. Its author lives and reigns to guide it 
to vi6lory. His providences open for it a free course. 
If men and nations ered themselves in pride and stub- 
bornness against the Lord and his anointed. He that 
sitteth in the heavens knows how to abase the proud and 
exalt the lowly. If nations become incorrigible. Divine 
judgments can annihilate them, and give their places to 
others. The Great Engineer has been for ages tunneling 
the mountains, bridging the chasms, spanning the floods, 
forcing a highway through flinty rocks, along precipitous 
heights, and over barren deserts. The track is partly laid, 
and trains are running over sections of the road. A day 
may consummate at last what it required ages to prepare 
the way for, and we shall reach the desired terminus. Deep 
down beneath the tumults and wrecks of the surface of 
Time's stormy sea, in the eternal calm of His own pur- 
poses, God is stretching the wires that shall conned this 
world with the next, and bring heaven and earth into 
unison. 

To the eye of sense it seems as if the Church is a feeble 
instrum.entality to work out these great results; and so it 
is. The Gulf Stream is, in comparison with the ocean, a 
small stream, and one would think, to look on that river 
of warm water, that the cold waters of the ocean would 
swallow it up right speedily. Yet there it is — in the ocean, 
but not of it — an everlasting river, never failing in drouths 
nor overflowing in floods, flowing steadily and resistlessly 
on from the Gulf of Mexico to the Ardic seas, bearing the 
warm treasures of the tropics to frozen regions — changing 
climates — giving channels to winds — spreading grateful 
blessings of warmth over regions that otherwise would be 
locked in eternal frosts, and receiving back the cold cur- 



ISAAC ERRETT. 49 1 



rents of the north only to be elevated to a more desirable 
temperature, and sent back again in gratefulness of bless- 
ing to the unfriendly regions whence they came. Such a 
stream does history reveal in the ocean of human life — the 
Church of the living God. Flowing from the tropical 
regions of Divine Love, it goes out a river of life, bearing 
to the icv regions of human selfishness and sin the warm 
streams of truth and love from God, and, by a thousand 
gentle influences, as it flows along rocky coasts, or amidst 
the desolation of icebergs, subdues the severities and con- 
quers the desolations of sin's wintry reign, and gives the 
bloom of spring and the fruits of summer to lands which 
else were locked in the everlasting embrace of death. It 
never ceases to flow. Men may not know it; navigators 
may look on it with suspicion; fogs may enwrap its bene- 
ficial currents and hide them from the gaze of the mariner; 
but as growing intelligence dispels the mysteries of the past, 
and unfolds the beneficent purposes of Him who is *'won- 
derful in working," the world will bless the giver for this 
river of life, and gratefully acknowledge the blessings which 
it brings. 

2. Let it not be forgotten that the noblest fruitage of 
Christian life is yet to be seen. We sometimes speak of 
primitive Christianity as if the noblest perfedion of char- 
acter belonged to the first age; as if the blade, in its first 
springing, was superior to the full corn in the ear. The 
full revelation of truth belongs to the first age — for that 
was the harvest-period in the revelation of truth; but it 
was the seed-time, so far as the fruits of the Gospel are 
concerned. No one can read the first and third chapters 
of Romans, and exped to see hewn out of such quarries 
of Jewish and Gentile humanity blocks of Parian marble. 
We inherit a Christian civilization which they had not ; and, 



49^ ' THE LIVING PULPIT. 



In view of the blessed heritage of faith, and hope, and love 
which we possess, God has a right to demand of the Church 
now, a strength, symmetry, and fruitfulness beyond any 
thing that glorified her early history. More than the mir- 
acles which we have lost, is the strength and certainty of the 
faith which has been tested through the storms and con- 
flidls of eighteen hundred years. Perhaps the passive vir- 
tues adorned the lives of the patient sufferers of the early 
ages more than ours; but the a5iive virtues of Christian 
character ought, in the blessed sunlight of this nineteenth 
century — in this land of freedom, with our surroundings of 
a high Christian civilization, with our unparalleled facilities 
for conquering space, and time, and nature, and for condens- 
ing into an hour more of real life than used to belong to 
a year; invested by science with an almost godlike com- 
mand over the elements, and a godlike dominion over the 
treasures of the soil, the waters, and the mountains — the 
adive virtues of Christian life ought to shine in us with 
unmatched luster! The fruits of Christian philanthropy 
should abound in unparalleled richness and variety, and the 
blessings of a triumphant faith and cheerful piety should 
spread their light and power over all the earth. We can 
not take space here to sketch our ideas of the triumphs yet 
to be won by the Church of God. A Spiritual Brother- 
hood, redeemed from all human authority, united only in 
Christ, with no test of admission but submission to Christ, 
and no test of membership but obedience to Christ's com- 
mandments — such a brotherhood, enjoying, in the closest 
spiritual unity, the highest spiritual freedom, and consecrat- 
ing all their powers, in holy enthusiasm, to the world's re- 
generation, would soon banish infidelity, superstition, and 
tyranny from the earth, mold the governments of the world 
into humaner forms, drive out selfishness, oppressio i, 



ISAAC ERRETT. 493 



aristocracy, and caste, before the light of Christ's ideas of 
the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man, and 
plant in all lands, and in the islands of the sea, peace and 
good-will among the families of mankind. The Spirit of 
God would brood lovingly, in dove-like sweetness and 
gentleness, over such a scene, and heaven stoop down to 
bless, with unwonted lavishness of bounty, the reconciled 
earth. The glorious harvest of the full corn in the ear 
would be gathered in with joyful shouts of harvest-home, 
and the sower who went forth with tears, and the reaper 
who gathered in the sheaves with joy, would rejoice to- 
gether before the Lord. 




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R.W Carrol] &r Co.MHskrs.CinnEnn-H 



AMOS SUTTON HAYDEN. 



'THHIS well-known, faithful minister of the Gospel was born, September 
■*- 17, 1813, in Youngstown, Trunibull County, Ohio, to which place 
his father, Samuel Hayden, had emigrated from Pennsylvania, in 1803. 

In a family of eight children, seven of whom were sons, Sutton was 
the youngest. In boyhood, he sought every opportunity to indulge his in- 
clination for study, and used such books and facilities for education as lay 
in his way. He was especially fond of religious books, and read with great 
delight **Hervey's Meditations'* and the ** Pilgrim's Progress" at a very 
early age. Other works, mostly of a religious character, fdl into his hands, 
some of which required close application and study, to which he diligently 
applied himself, and, by this means, made considerable progress in the 
acquisition ot useful knowledge. From the age of fifteen to seventeen, he 
laid the foundation of a classical education in his own native village. He 
rose rapidly m his classes, surpassing older students in the study of the 
classics, for which, rather than mathematics, he had a taste. 

His religious conviftions were early, and marked. His parents were 
honorable members of the Baptist Church, and he was trained in the doc- 
trinal views and pradlices of that body. Previous to his obedience to the 
Gospel, he passed through the usual Baptist experience, so common at that 
day, of ** getting religion," and often wondered why it was that God was so 
long in coming to give relief and bring joy to his soul. At last, he had the 
Gospel plan clearly explained to him by that gifted and eloquent servant 
of God, Walter Scott, by whom he was immersed, March 20, 1828, in 
the fifteenth year of his age. 

He soon began to exercise his gift in exhortation, traveling considerable 
with other preachers as associate and aid, especially with his brother Wil- 
liam. 

In the summer and fall of 1832, when nineteen years of age, he began 
to hold meetings, and his labors were every-where crowned with encour- 
aging success. He was married. May 31, 1837, to Sarah M. Ely, of 
Deerfield, Portage County, Ohio. 

C495) 



496 



THE LIVING PULPIT. 



In September, 1840, he settled in Collamer, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, 
then known as Euclid, as pastor of the Church; and, in 1850, on the 
founding of the Western Reserve Ecleftic Institute, at Hiram, Ohio, the 
Board unanimously elefted him Principal of the seminary. Under his admin- 
istration, seconded by able assistants, the institution rose to great strength 
and prosperity. After holding that position seven years he resigned, and 
returned to Collamer. The next year he was eledled Principal of the 
McNeely Normal School, at Hopedale, Ohio, and accepted, laboring there 
for one year in the double capacity of Principal of the school and preacher 
for the Church. He resigned in August, 1.859, ^^'^ returned to his Church 
in Collamer, which had been constantly urging him to resume his labors 
among them. He has been located at that point ever since, where he is 
greatly beloved by the entire community. Excepting the periods already 
mentioned, that has been his principal field of labor for twenty-seven years, 
presenting a rare but instru6live example of permanency in the work of the 
ministry. 

He has also been quite successful as a musical composer and publisher. 
He is the author of the first compilation of church music published among 
the Disciples. It appeared when he was only twenty-one years of age, 
and was much sought after. It was a great benefit at the time, in furnish- 
ing tunes for the use of the infant churches. He has published several 
musical works since, one of which, the "Sacred Melodeon," has run 
through many editions, and had an extensive sale. He was also one of 
the committee that compiled the new edition of the " Christian Hymn 
Book," and, in the preparation of that work, rendered valuable assistance. 

Brother Hayden is distinguished for large conscientiousness, intense 
delicacy of feeling, earnest religious conviftions," and great purity of life 
He is a model Christian gentleman, an excellent pastor, and a scholar o' 
no mean attainments. 



CONSCIENCE AND CHRISTIANITY. 



BY A. S. HAYDEN. 



"Which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their con- 
science also bearing witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing, 
or else excusing one another." — Romans ii : 15. 

THE New Testament reveals a grand and glorious 
salvation. The angel that announced the birth of 
the Lord Jesus announced him as a Savior: "He shall 
save his people from their sins." (Matt, i: 21.) The 
Divine grace is poured forth, in boundless profusion, ''to 
purge our sins'* — to recover us, absolutely and eternally, 
from our ruin in depravity and guilt. Salvation is the 
herald-note of the Gospel — its voice of proclamation to 
the whole human family. This is the burden of the apos- 
tolic mission. Repentance and remission, in the name of 
the crucified, exalted Prince and Savior, were, through the 
obedience of the Gospel, to be brought to every son and 
daughter of a lost and ruined race. He who studies the 
Christian religion, therefore, must, first of all, contemplate 
it as a great salvation. 

But it is also a boundless benevolence — full and free, 

and surpassing all utterance. This thought is itself the 

result and outflow from another which lies above and back 

of it as its cause — the Divine philanthropy. " God so 

32 (497) 



49 S THE LIVING PULPIT. 



loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have 
everlasting life." (John iii: i6.) God so loved. This 
speech '^ so loved'' admits of no degree above it. It is the 
highest form of speech — the superlative of superlatives. 
No conception of philanthropy can transcend this. An- 
gelic powers could rise no higher. The humblest saint is 
equal — in enjoyment, is superior — to the highest seraph, 
in resped: to this unparalleled and unlimited benevolence. 
The Gospel, issuing from this full fountain of goodness, 
begets in all who receive it the like emotion ; so that the 
work of redemption is not complete in us even when we 
have heartily embraced it, and secured to ourselves the pos- 
session and enjoyment of the great salvation. It works 
in us to kindle the fires of that supernatural benevolence 
which sought and found a way to rescue and glorify lost 
man. The saved sinner will feel after his lost brother till 
he find him; and, having found him, he will exclaim, with 
one of old: "We have found him of whom Moses in the 
law and all the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the 
son of Joseph." (John i: 45.) The second, perhaps the 
higher, study of the Christian religion, is the view of it as 
a grand and superlative philanthropy. 

But the third — the grandest, the highest — is its justice. 
It is an eternal, an inexorable righteousness. " Mercy and 
truth go before the face of the Almighty, but justice and 
judgment are the habitation of his throne." (Psalms 
Ixxxix: 14.) In the unfolding of his character in the work 
of redemption, justice and mercy meet; righteousness and 
peace kiss each other. (See Psalms Ixxxv : 10.) The 
union of these ineffable attributes is the highest thought 
in the revelation which God has made to man. To realize 
and embody it in the work of redemption is the richest and 



A. S. HAYDEN. 499 



loftiest display of infinite wisdom. The oracle which re- 
veals Jesus Christ as 2. priest on a throne unfolds more fully 
than any other the counsels which originated man's recov- 
ery. It sets him forth in the highest possible glory, com- 
bining the royalty with the priesthood — a kingly priest, a 
sacerdotal monarch, ruling the universe in reference to the 
salvation of the human race. Consider attentively the 
whole passage: "He shall bear the glory; and shall sit 
and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon 
his throne: and the counsel of-peace shall be between them 
both.'* (Zech. vi : 13.) Peace to the soul comes from both 
the royalty and the priesthood. Both offices are united in 
him who bears the glory, and who sits and rules, a priest, 
upon his throne. 

Now, CONSCIENCE disccms the right. Without this 
power, or faculty, man would be incapable of any discern- 
ment of moral reditude. Conscience is the moral eye of 
the soul — an eye single to righteousness. Then the con- 
nedlion-level between God and man is where conscience 
apprehends God's righteousness. The Gospel, as a sys- 
tem of justification, reveals God's righteousness — that is, 
his system of justification — through and by the cross. 
And it is no less its purpose to establish God's righteous- 
ness, while he stoops to recover and save the sinner, than 
it is to bring salvation to man, who \s justly condemned in 
his sins. It deserves emphatic mention, that the complete- 
ness of the work of salvation is not accomplished until the 
conscience sees the Divine justice displayed equally with 
God's mercy, and feels satisfied in the glorious work of re- 
storing sinful man to a state of pardon, acceptance, and 
holiness. Then the justified sinner rests, for he is recon- 
ciled. Then he is satisfied, for he sees the ground of im- 
mutable security in the justice of God — the very founda- 



500 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



tion of his throne. Then he can understand that justice, 
as well as mercy, is his friend, and offers him pardon. Ac- 
cordingly, the holy apostle says : " If we confess our sins, 
he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse 
us from all unrighteousness." (i John i: 9.) 

We see that conscience is the link of communion be- 
tween man and God in the highest development of the 
Christian religion. It is the avenue through which flow 
into the soul all the high, reconciling, and exalting senti- 
ments which are awakened by God's justice, holiness, and 
truth — powers which secure to the soul its firmest trust, 
and kindle to flames the feelings of praise, devotion, and 
adoration. 

Nature and Subordinate Position of Conscience, 

Conscience is neither innate, in the sense of a perfect 
guide of itself — an image or representative of God in the 
soul — as some imagine, to prompt and guide, always infal- 
libly, in the right way; nor yet is it the "creature of edu- 
cation" — an expression very faulty, and of uncertain sound. 
In respedl of the first position, those who believe in in- 
nate total depravity can not believe it; for then would there 
be at least one power or faculty, and that a moral power, 
which, so far from being totally depraved, would not be 
depraved at all ! Nor can any refleding person believe it, 
who considers the infinitely differing and confliding decis- 
ions which conscience, as a judge, is making in precisely 
the same cases. And in respedl to the second position,' 
that conscience is the creature of education, it may be suffi- 
cient to remark, that education creates no faculty. There 
must be some thing to be educated before education can 
commence its work. It is time this loose style of speech 
were abandoned. 



A. S. HAYDEN. 50I 



Conscience, then, is a faculty or power among the orig- 
inal endowments implanted in us by the Creator; not to 
take the place of God in the heart, but it rejoices in its 
dependency, and looks up with reverential humility for 
the word and will of God to prompt all its impulses and 
guide in all its decisions. No one of all our faculties is 
so prompt as conscience, when in a healthy state, to re- 
spond to the Divine appeals, and to say, in the language 
of Samuel, '* Speak, for thy servant heareth." More than 
this, it seems to be intrusted- with a subordinate domin- 
ion, a viceroyalty, to summon to duty the whole garrison 
of our moral powers, to keep them in the line, armed and 
equipped, ready for defense, or for invasion upon the en- 
emies of the Supreme Sovereign. 

Conscience is an eye; but the eye needs light. The 
best eye discerns nothing in darkness. Conscience with- 
out a guide is Sampson without eyes. It must be led; it 
wants a hand to lead it to the pillars. There is no clearer 
example of the confusion yet prevailing in Christendom, 
than is found in the strangely inconsistent views enter- 
tained on the question of the supremacy of conscience. 
While it is a faculty in our nature, like all other faculties 
in man, it needs illumination. Or, to accept the definition 
which Locke gives of conscience, '' The power of judging 
of the reditude or the pravity of our own adions," it is 
still manifest that, as reditude has resped to right rule, 
and pravity implies a departure from one, conscience needs 
a rule, or standard of judgment. If she ''accuses," her 
accusation must rest on fad and law. If she ''witnesses," 
her testimony relates to conformity to a right rule, or to 
derelidion and disobedience. The conclusion is plain, 
that there must be a rule or standard /d?r every a£l of con- 
science. 



502 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



The Romanist has his rule of conscience — the creed and 
pra6lices of the Romish Church. Compliance with that 
rule satisfies his conscience. But the Greek Christian's 
conscience would never be satisfied with the Romish rule. 
The Musselman's conscience conforms to the Koran. 
Thus consciences differ as the standards differ throughout 
the multiform variety of rules which men have adopted. 
As— 

"Education forms the common mind," 

SO, in a very emphatic sense, the religious teaching which 
a man adopts becomes, invariably, his conscience-standard. 
It is assumed throughout this discourse, and ought to 
be, doubtless, in all sound reasoning, that while conscience 
is the supreme moral guide in us, its dictates and decisions 
are neither different from the light we possess, nor beyond 
it. A good conscience, in the sense of one faithful to its 
moral convidtions, will a6t unfailingly in harmony with the 
moral bias of its possessor. From these reasonings the 
following propositions appear to flow: 

1. Conscience refledls, or uses executively, the degree 
and charadler of instrudion the possessor of it has received. 

2. If his teaching be erroneous, conscience will be tainted 
with the same error, and to the same extent. 

3. If the instrudlion be from the Word of God, it will 
be correal, and conscience will give a corred; testimony. 

4. Conscience is not an infallible guide, unless it be in- 
fallibly led. 

5. But the Divine revelation is such an infallible guide, 
by which the conscience, when duly instruded, is infallibly 
led; which, in turn, leads man infallibly by the knowledge 
of God. 



A. S. HAYDEN. 503 



Conscience belongs only to Man. 

While it is the highest of our faculties, linking us to the 
Creator through the highest display of his revelation, his 
eternal holiness, it is worthy of special remark, thac con- 
science is a faculty which pertains to man alone. Some 
of the lower orders of animals seem to share with him in 
at least a semblance of the intellectual powers, as also in 
some of the moral qualities possessed by men. Some of 
them manifest a degree of fidelity in their attachment very 
touching and almost human. Some of the knowing capac- 
ities appear, in measure, to shine among some of them. 
But while there is an overlapping of certain afFedions and 
capacities between man and the irrational creation, it is ap- 
parent that those affeClions and capacities are possessed in 
the strongest degree which are of the lower grade. As we 
rise in the scale, as respeds the nature of the qualities thus 
mutually possessed, they become dim and weak in them, 
till man is left alone in the supremacy and enjoyment of 
all the higher grade. Animals have strong affedions — a 
mere dim reflection of intelled — and no conscience. Thus 
it is equally shown that man is supreme in excellence on 
the earth; and also that conscience is supreme among 
and over all the grand endowments implanted in us by the 
Creator. 

It is man's moral personality — without it, no moral char- 
acter. As is his conscience, so is his character. Character 
and conscience are correlates. The one is the embodiment 
of the other. Conscience forms character, and character is 
the index of conscience. Men difl^er, all things considered, 
in moral character, according to the differences in their con- 
sciences. Here is the point of observation from which to 
study the pictures men are making. Every man assumes 



504 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



his own attitude and position — works on the canvas from 
his own angle. He colors and shades according to the 
moral hue and force of his conscience. Whatever else 
enters into the dye wherein he dips his brush, conscience 
is the background, shading all, setting all in prominence 
or relief. 

Susceptibility of Cultivation, 

Conscience is susceptible of greater cultivation than any 
other of our powers. It is also capable of a greater de- 
gree of depravity. In this man is equal unto the angels, 
and a companion also of demons. Deledable above all 
things of beauty is a well-educated and upright conscience, 
ruling like an empress, and regulating with equity and 
prudence the whole empire of the soul. Here is perfec- 
tion — the only perfection of which man is capable. Every 
intelledual power and moral quality in his nature is sus- 
ceptible of indefinite, almost limitless, improvement; but 
this alone may reach absolute perfedion. Conscience may 
prompt perfed: obedience to a perfed: law, for conscience, 
like an archited, works by rule; but the power to obey 
may be far in the rear of the perfedl intention. Here a 
conflid: ensues between the demands of the will, which re- 
quires perfe6t obedience, and the tardy passions, which are 
untrained and rebellious. Conscience mourns to find the 
obedience so far behind her standard. She rallies her forces, 
chides delays, reproves, admonishes, and tries every means 
to bring the recusant *' members" to duty. Sometimes 
she makes us cry out in despair: ''O, wretched man that 
I am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?'* 
This was her forlorn hope all along under the law. Thus 
do we understand Paul in the seventh chapter of Romans: 
" For to will is present with me, but how to perform that 



A. S. HAYDEN. 505 



which is good I find not." Conscience sought and prompt- 
ed the right way. It was good in its impulse and decision ; 
but the power to control the refradory members, the aid 
to the obedience it demanded, was not in the law. But 
when the needed aid appeared, the Gospel, with its blessed 
hope, its cheerful and free spirit, its assurance of pardon, 
and its gracious mercy, the relieved conscience exultingly 
exclaimed : '* Thanks be to God who giveth us the vi6lory, 
through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Rom. vii: 24, 25.) 

'The Court of Conscience. 

The offices of conscience appear, in the light of the Holy 
Scriptures, to be summarily as follows: 

1. It ads as an accuser. " Being convided by their con- 
science, they went out one by one." (John viii: 9.) 

2. It is a witness. "Their conscience also bearing wit- 
ness." (Rom. ii: 15.) Also (chapter ix: i), ''My con- 
conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost." 
''Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience." 
(2 Cor. i: 12.) 

3. It is a judge or arbitrator in morals. "Why is my 
liberty judged of another man's conscience." (i Cor. 
x: 29.) "Commending ourselves to every man's con- 
science in the sight of God." (2 Cor. iv: 2.) See also 
I John iii: 20, where, under another term, the same notion 
of an arbitrator among our moral powers is distindly as- 
serted : " If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our 
heart, and knoweth all things." 

The word of God speaks of a "good conscience." 
That is good which fully and constantly answers the ends 
of its creation. The conscience that is healthy and vigor- 
ous, ading spontaneously and without bias, receiving no 



506 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



bribe — which is tender, quick, and true — is a good con- 
science. 

There is, also, an evil conscience. A conscience is evil 
when it refuses service, or is incapable of duty; or when it 
has been trifled with till it has become callous and past 
feeling. Of some, it is said their conscience is seared as 
with a hot iron. The flesh, when thus seared, is insensate. 
This is a strong figure, and of easy understanding in its 
application to the conscience. It has lost its sensibility. 
It no longer files in its accusation. It no longer arbitrates 
in the great questions of duty. Such persons are hope- 
lessly lost, as it is only through the conscience the soul can 
be reached. 

A conscience may be weak, and yet good. It may be 
watchful — even over-careful to avoid the wrong. Its ten- 
sion may be high through mere delicacy. Such a conscience 
demands the tenderest treatment. No greater mistake, or 
more painfully serious in its consequences, is committed 
by pastors and elders of churches, than to disregard the cases 
under their care of overwrought tenderness of conscience. 
Some of the purest and most delicate souls — of highest 
and acutest sensitiveness, yet sincere to the last degree — 
are bluntly addressed and coarsely treated by persons in- 
capable of appreciating them. They languish for relief on 
some troublesome case of duty omitted, or some ad per- 
formed. They sigh in darkness, and long for some one 
to whom they may commit freely their troubles. Here, 
thou spiritual adviser, here be thy skill displayed. To 
trifle here is to ruin a soul. The slightest contempt may 
sink their remaining hope immeasurable fathoms down 
into the depths of the most dismal despair. It is painfully 
■ certain that this class of scrupulous sufferers are in most 



A. S. HAYDEN. 507 



of the churches, and none with eye to discern, heart to 
appreciate, or tongue to relieve them. 

An evil conscience also exists when its possessor feels a 
sense of unpardoned guilt. It differs from a defiled con- 
science. An evil conscience, in the sense here considered, 
carries the convidion of guilt. It is penitent, but unpar- 
doned. A defiled conscience is corrupt, impure, impeni- 
tent. A pure conscience is free from the consciousness of 
sins cherished. A good conscience, as here spoken of, is 
free from a sense of guilt. 

Here a distinction of great importance may be men- 
tioned between the change of heart and the forgiveness of 
sins — two states of the heart, or conscience (for sometimes 
these terms may be used interchangeably) which are fre- 
quently confounded. When the heart is changed, the con- 
science is purged from defilement ; the heart is purified of 
its love of sin; it delights in holiness; and in its recon- 
ciliation it cries out, with Saul, "Lord, what wilt thou 
have me to do?" The conscience is now pure. It longs 
for the pardon of the sins which it now mourns. In other 
words, to that state of heart, corredly termed d. pure con- 
science, is now to be added the joy of that state called in 
Scripture 2i good conscience — one made free from guilt by 
forgiveness. Then a change of heart prepares the sinner 
for pardon; and the knowledge of pardon, obtained in 
obedience to the Gospel, clothes him with a good con- 
science, "through the resurredion of Jesus Christ." 

A few passages of the Holy Scripture, considered to- 
gether, throw much light on this part of the subjed. We 
introduce merely the sentences to be considered, request- 
ing the reader to examine them carefully in their connec- 
tion. 



5o8 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Hebrew ix: 14: "Purge your conscience from dead 
works." 

Hebrew x: 2; "Worshipers once purged should have 
no more conscience of sins.'* 

Hebrew x: 22: "Hearts sprinkled from an evil con- 
science.'* 

I Peter iii: 21 : "Answer of a good conscience." 

From a careful study and comparison of these passages, 
the following remarks appear to be plain and pertinent: 

I St. An evil conscience is one that feels the sense of 
guilt. The worshipers under the law were never relieved 
of that burden. Paul argues that if they had enjoyed that 
freedom from sin their offerings would not have been re- 
peated. (Heb. x: 2.) And, from verse 22, we learn that 
the relief, or sense of pardon which they sought, and for 
which the offerings of the law were inadequate, was gained 
through the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ; and 
that unpardoned state of heart is there called an ^^ evil 
conscience." Then, an evil conscience is a guilty con- 
science; and a good conscience is one which has been re- 
lieved from that guilt by a knowledge of pardon. 

2d. That the law was unable to confer that blessing. 
"It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take 
away sins." "Every priest standeth daily ministering, 
and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never 
make the comers thereunto per fed as pertaineth to the con- 
science." "The worshipers once purged should have no 
more conscience of sins." (Heb. x.) Then the unspeak- 
able joy of sins forgiven, a conscience which witnessed to 
its possessor to the ad of forgiving mercy, which pro- 
nounced a full and formal absolution from the guilt ot 
sin, was a blessing to which the Jewish heart was a stran- 
ger — a blessing enjoyed only by the sons of God under 



A. S. HAYDEN. 509 



Jesus Christ. And hence the accompanying spirit of adop- 
tion belongs, as Paul shows extensively elsewhere, only 
to Christians, to the members of the new covenant. 

3d. That what the law could not do in this resped, the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ doth fully and happily accomplish. 
*' How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through 
the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, 
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the liv- 
ing God." (Heb. ix: 14.) "Let us draw near to God 
with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our 
heart sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies 
washed with pure water." (Heb. x: 22.) This forgiveness 
is neither typical nor formal, merely, but adual; so that 
the worshipers, once purged, have no more conscience of sins. 
And the consequence of this blessing is the enjoyment of 
the Holy Spirit, which, as sons of God, we now receive; 
being adopted as the sons and daughters of a Holy Father. 
And thus we become the adopted brothers of the "only- 
begotten Son," and share the honors and joys of the Di- 
vine family. Christians should, then, not go mourning 
all their days, but lift up their heads and rejoice in hope, 
and be careful to walk worthy of the vocation with which 
they are called. 

4th. That this sense of relief, or knowledge of pardon, 
is conveyed intentionally and formally to the converted 
sinner in baptism, through the promise which the merci- 
ful Savior vouchsafes to those who obey him. Thus the 
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ and the washing 
of the body in pure water are associated. (Heb. x: 22.) 
And the seeking of a good conscience and baptism are 
connected for the same purpose, through the resurrection 
of Jesus Christ, who bore our sins in his own body on 
the tree, and who rose the third day for our justification. 



5 TO THE LIVING PULPIT. 



'The Freedom of the Conscience, 

The language of the Apostle Paul may be justly adopted 
and applied here: "I am free from all men." And again: 
''Not without law to God.'* This expresses accurately, 
and with high authority, the nature of the freedom which 
of right belongs to the conscience. It is too sacred for 
man to interfere with. It is man's own moral person- 
ality. Into this sanduary he retires to settle his accounts 
with his God, and prepare for the judgment; a business 
too awful and too peculiarly his own to admit of any in- 
termeddling from without. A "hitherto shalt thou come, 
and no farther," peremptorily forbids the approach of any 
third party. 

Of very necessity, and of its own inalienable right, the 
conscience is and must be free. The moment it is co- 
erced or compelled, it is destroyed. No indignity so great 
can be offered to human nature. The surrender of this 
right is the surrender of our highest manhood, and the 
holiest prerogative of our nature. Half the wars, revo- 
lutions, and convulsions of society have come from the 
exading and unnatural attempts of some power in acci- 
dental supremacy to didate law to the conscience. Bless 
God for the liberation of men from the terrors of the auto 
da fe^ the impious cruelties of the Star Chamber, and the 
awful and diabolical tyrannies of the Inquisition. The 
sufferings of the million, who, dying in prison, in exile, 
or by torture, are the impressive and emphatic protest of 
God's martyr host against the enormous wrong. 

''No martyrs now! " Not quite, perhaps, but nearly. 
Read with inward thought. The church requires its pastor 
to preach the prevailing "dodrines" embodied in its com- 
pend of the faith. He failing in the imposed obligation, 



A. S. HAYDEN. 511 



they place him under the ban of silence, cut ofFsupplles from 
his table, or make him so uncomfortable in his position that 
he is forced to depart hence. Or they open upon him the 
thunders of the higher anathema. So, held in "durance 
vile," under the threats, very significantly suggested, of a 
withdrawal of support, or removal from office, or, it may 
be, expulsion from church communion, he stifles con- 
science, sells his manhood, and ceases from that hour to 
be God's free man. Is his conscience free? It may not 
be the sublime, ex-cathedra denunciations of the Vatican, 
but the equally arrogant and illiberal decisions of the ses- 
sion or the presbytery. 

In many ways the conscience is held in chains. The 
spirit of bigotry and dogmatic intolerance still prevails. 
The cry, '' He followeth not with us," still goes up to the 
Master's ears, and calls for vengeance on the dissenting 
objedt of theological odium. The confessional, or the spir- 
itual court of death awaits non-conformity to the reigning 
order of faith and pradlice. The vidims of this dry, blast- 
ing simoom of ecclesiastical despotism He thick along the 
highway of modern church history. The vidtim of Romish 
intolerance, when she sought to make laws for the con- 
science, was impaled, eviscerated, tortured ; now his brother 
in sufferings is scourged with the cords of sarcasm, has the 
key of fellowship turned against him, or, by secret man- 
agement, is made odious to ''the eledl." O, when will the 
emancipation of conscience be complete? When will this 
benign power, the eye of Divinity within us, be disen- 
thralled from every incumbrance, and be left where God 
left it, responsible only to 'him? 

It was a noble utterance of the assembly of divines at 
Westminster, which they made : '* God alone is Lord of the 
conscience." (See the Presbyterian Confession of Faith.) 



512 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Our government is the only known government which, 
looking vigilantly after all the social interests of the people, 
has ventured on the responsible and untried experiment 
of letting the conscience alone. It has let us gloriously 
alone ! God preserve it forever ! 

l^he importance of appealing to the Conscience in Conversion, 

The Church should be laid in righteousness. A scepter 
of righteousness is the scepter of Messiah's kingdom. So 
every member of it should bow with an intelligent sur- 
render to that scepter. It is not doubted nor denied that 
motives which appeal to the sense of fear, and which move 
the soul with a desire of safety and personal salvation, are 
legitimate. More, they are Scriptural. ''Save yourselves 
from this untoward generation." '*Flee from the wrath 
to come." ''Beware, lest that come upon you which is 
written in the prophets. Behold, ye despisers, and won- 
der and perish." Many such are in the Word of God. 
So also the wide range of motives of benevolence. The 
goodness of God invites to repentance. Let the good- 
ness of God, then, be pressed pointedly and eloquently. 
Yet the conscience should not be negleded. It should be 
thoroughly aroused and fully enlightened. Conversions 
would be more thorough, and apostasies fewer. The ex- 
cited fears will subside. Impassioned appeals are highly 
important; but follow them up with the stronger reasons 
which lie at the foundation of permanent reformation. 

Many appeals for conversion by partisan pleaders do 
but corrupt the heart. They encourage selfishness, rather 
than self-denial, in it. Men are persuaded to come in be- 
cause they are of use to the Church. They have talents. 
Their influence is great, and many are looking to them. 
They are very good men now, and need nothing to com- 



A. S. HAYDEN. 513 



plete their charader but the Christian profession. Thus 
they are flattered, coaxed, besought with protestations of 
friendship, and of the happiness to us if they will but take 
their place with us. Ah ! the desecration of the Gospel ! 
Impious flattery! Does Jesus Christ need sinners for his 
sake ^ Do they not, rather, need him for their own sake.^ 
It is shameful to set the Lord begging thus for followers. 
Thousands have been ''beat up" into the ranks of the 
Church by spirited charges upon their honor, their man- 
hood ; their bravery has been challenged, and all the self- 
hood of the heart aroused, and plied dexterously to swell 
the host of nominal church-members. Then the numbers 
were carefully footed up and sent forth to the world by 
bulletin, herald, and proclamation. Alas! the Church 
militant! Wars come of passion. With passion and 
pride untamed and unhumbled, such converts quickly re- 
lapse, or remain to bear the bitter, crabbed fruits of such 
a planting. 

Men should not be pressed into the Church faster, or 
beyond the desires of their own repentant hearts. If the 
preacher would not have his work prove ''wood, hay, and 
stubble," let him see to it that he apply the motives which 
will lead the soul to convidion for sins ; that he should 
make chief his aim to lead up the conscience to Christ, 
and lay the crucified Redeemer in the conscience of the 
sinner. 

In respe6t of children, this is, probably, still more im- 
portant. How admirable and worthy of all imitation the 
course of the holy apostle : " Children, obey your parents 
in the Lord; for this is right." (Eph. vi : i.) Note well 
the motive. He descends not to the plane of selfishness. 
He lifts the heart of pliant childhood quite up to the 
highest of motives. "It is right." He touches and teaches 



514 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the conscience. Here is a lesson deserving the careful 
study of teachers and preachers, and, above all, of parents, 
whose office in this behalf can not be alienated from them, 
nor delegated to any other person whatever. 

Motives form chara6ler. Then lay the foundations 
aright. Many lives are false throughout, not because their 
course of adion is evil or erroneous, but because the mo- 
tives are all wrong from which flow the adions of such 
lives. Multitudes are never undeceived by others. They 
never detedl the fundamental error themselves, and their 
whole life is a well-managed deception, with nothing in it 
of Christ, of sacrifice, of self-sacrifice, of self-abnegation, 
of self-devotion. " I am crucified with Christ ; never- 
theless I live : yet not I, but the grace of God liveth in 
me. And the life which I live in the flesh, I live by the 
faith of the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself 
for me." (Gal. ii: 20.) 





R W CairolJ &. C9 PubJishers 



TOLBERT FANNING. 



npOLBERT FANNING was born in Cannon County, Tennessee, 
-*• May lo, 1810. When he was eight years of age, his parents moved 
to Lauderdale County, Alabama, and he remained in that State until he was 
nineteen. His father was a planter, on a small scale, and young Tolbert 
was brought up mainly in the cotton field. He was allowed to attend 
school from .three to six months in a year, and it was his good fortune to 
be placed under the care of excellent teachers. He soon became fond of 
study, and made considerable progress in acquiring the rudiments of an edu- 
cation. At this time, his father, though highly respedled in his county as 
an honorable gentleman, was not a member of any church, but his mother 
was an Old Virginia Baptist, and a woman of fine intelledl and great purity 
of life. From her, and from Baptist, Methodist, and Presbyterian preachers, 
whom he occasionally heard, he received his early religious instruftion. 
At times his young heart was deeply impressed with the necessity of a re- 
ligious life; but he was taught that "all men are in a state of total darkness, 
and must remain so till illuminated by special communications of the Spirit." 
From the time he was ten years of age he had read the Bible, but supposed 
he could not understand a word in it without a special illumination from 
above. Seven precious years of his life were spent in this gloomy and 
hopeless condition. When sixteen years of age, he began to pay atten- 
tion to the preaching of Ephraim D. Moore and James E. Mathews, who 
called themselves Christian preachers, and were great and good men. From 
their teaching, he was encouraged to read the New Testament, with the 
view of really acquiring spiritual light. Soon all was plain, and his gloomy 
doubts gave place to an intelligent faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. About 
the first of Odlober, 1827, he attended a meeting on Cypress, seven miles 
north of Florence, Alabama, and heard James E. Mathews preach a mas- 
terly discourse on the Gospel and its Conditions, and, at the conclusion of, 
the discourse, he walked forward, and, with a perfeft understanding of the 
truth, made the confession, and was immediately immersed into Christ. 
The next two years were spent chiefly in studying the Scriptures, at- 

(515) 



5x6 



THE LIVING PULPIT. 



tending school, and visiting the brethren in Alabama and Tennessee. On 
the first day of Oftober, by the advice of the Church at Republican, w^here' 
he made the confession, he bade adieu to his family, for the purpose of try- 
ing to preach the Gospel. Though young and inexperienced, such was 
his earnestness and zeal, and such the power of the truth which he 
preached, that cvery-where thousands attended his meetings, and large 
numbers were brought into the kingdom. 

In November, 1831, he entered the Nashville University, and gradu- 
ated in 1835. During his college course, he preached considerable at dif- 
ferent points in Tennessee, and made a tour with Brother A. Campbell 
to Ohio and Kentucky. While at Perryville, Kentucky, he held a suc- 
cessful debate with a Methodist preacher by the name of Rice. 

In 1836, he spent the spring and summer in a preaching tour, with 
Brother A. Campbell, through Ohio, New York, Canada, New England, 
and the Eastern cities. In 1837, he was married to Charlotte Fall, and, 
the same year, opened a female seminary in Franklin, Tennessee. On the 
first day of January, 1840, he removed to his present location, five miles 
from Nashville, and condufted a female school till 1842, when he spent 
most of the year in a successful preaching tour through Alabama and Mis- 
sissippi. In i8f3, he began to build Franklin College, and, in Odlober, 
1844, the buildings were completed, and Tolbert Fanning was elefted 
the first President of the college. In 1 861, he resigned the Presidency 
to W. D. Carnes, President of the East Tennessee University, with the 
view of raising money to greatly enlarge the institution ; but the war de- 
feated all his calculations, and, in 1865, the college was destroyed by fire. 
He is at present conducing "Hope Institute," for the education of young 
ladies, and is senior editor of the "Gospel Advocate." 

Brother Fanning's life has been one of great aftivity. He has been an 
editor for twenty years, taught school for nearly the same length of time, 
and traveled and preached in fifteen States, where he has been instrumental 
in establishing many churches, and scattering the good seed of the kingdom 
generally. As a speaker, he is remarkably self-possessed, and presents his 
points in a logical and forcible manner. His mental and physical charac- 
teristics are strongly marked, and his whole organization indicates that he 
is a man of strong will, great physical endurance, and powerful intelledl. 



THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH OF 
CHRIST. 



BY TOLBERT FANNING. 



"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow- 
citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon 
the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being 
the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building, fitly framed together, 
groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord : in whom ye also are builded to- 
gether, for a habitation of God through the Spirit." — Ephesians ii : 19, 
20, 21, 22. 

TO impress the heart of the erring with the wondrous 
truth that '^ the Church of Christ " is heaven's di- 
vinely constituted organization for the salvation of the 
lost, is the first and principal labor of the minister of 
peace. With the fervent desire, therefore, that I may 
successfully pidure forth this incomparable structure, 
in colors that will enable sincere inquirers to become 
*'wise unto salvation," I have undertaken the present 
service. 

Plain answers to a few very simple questions, I trust, 
will embody what should be considered the most valuable 
lessons in the sacred Scriptures, regarding the Church and 
her mission. Let us, then, prayerfully and earnestly con- 
sider. 

CS17) 



51 8 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



I. Why was it necessary that an organization 

PROMISING SALVATION SHOULD EXIST? 

Not feeling competent to look into the hidden things 
of God, I am not sure that I can satisfy the speculative 
in my answer to this momentous question. 

We know not why God did not create a different world 
from this, or that any creation whatever was essential to 
his- matchless honor. But we are to deal with what has 
been revealed in the Sacred Oracles, and not with idle con- 
jedures. Man, who had been created sinless, and consti- 
tuted lord of the earth, hearkened to the bewitching rhet- 
oric of the seducer, and, in stumbling at the words of 
wisdom, fell, and was delivered over to the buffetings of 
the usurper. The generations of four thousand years had 
passed from earth without hope ; the government of the 
world, in consequence of sin, had been delivered to Satan, 
and man, alienated in heart from his Maker, and banished 
from his Eden-home with his race, yielded undisputed 
loyalty to his treacherous leader. Still, God*s compassion 
to his creation was boundless; and although the world had 
sinned, and been led captive by the devil at his will, our 
kind Father, in great wisdom and tenderest love, conde- 
scended to offer a release from the iron grasp of the de- 
stroyer, through the mediation of his beloved Son. The 
rescue was determined, and, for the execution of the grand 
purposes of heaven, the Son of his love was sent, with 
"glad tidings of great joy" to the dying. The govern- 
ment of Jehovah having been put at defiance, it was re- 
solved in the counsels of heaven to offer release to death's 
captives in an organization at war with the powers of dark- 
ness. 

To establish this institution and secure eternal redemp- 



TOLBERT FANNING. 519 



tion, cost the sacrifice of God's beloved Son, who "made 
his grave with the wicked in his death," but who rose a 
triumphant conqueror, bearing aloft the scepter of life to 
a sin-stricken race. In this, anxious angels could see how 
" God could be just, and the justifier of all who believe'* 
and seek protedion under the mild reign of the Prince of 
Peace. The simple statement that God, our Father, chose 
to offer salvation to a lost world through the kingdom of 
his Son, must suffice as to the necessity a.nd Jilness of such 
an institution, and I therefore, inquire^ 

II. How, WHERE, AND WHEN, DID THE ChuRCH OF 

Christ originate ? 

It is not only mortifying, but exceedingly humiliating, 
to know that, in the nineteenth century — in " this en- 
lightened age" — it becomes necessary to reply to such in- 
quiries. In reference to these matters, however, there are 
at least three classes of inveterate disputants. 

In the first, we find those who possess no appreciable 
idea of such an organization as the Church of the First- 
born. They speak, to be sure, of " the invisible king- 
dom within," and regard religion as mere passion-feeling 
emotion, which we are to " seek and get," and, indeed, 
which may be lost ; but which depends not in the least 
upon any exercise of the understanding heart. Spiritual 
life, in this view, is but an abstradlion, independent of all 
organizations and forms — is merely subjedive, not objed- 
ive, and churches and ordinances but hinder the free oper- 
ation of the spirit within. 

In the second class are seen such as hope for a coming 
dispensation of mercy, and pray, ''Thy kingdom come." 
They preach a dead Gospel, and pradice ''forms of god- 
liness, but deny the power." The idea of a spiritual body 



520 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



competent to save from sin, and qualify the saved for im- 
mortality, has not entered their hearts-; but they still look 
for a Christ to divide lands and govern bloody monar- 
chies. 

Those of the third class maintain that, in the days of 
the apostles, the Church was built upon the rock laid in 
Zion ; that she has withstood the rough waves of eighteen 
centuries ; and that she will, finally, triumph gloriously 
over all the principalities and powers of earth. 

It will become us well to call to our aid the prophets of 
the Old Testament in regard to ^^ the how''' of the Church's 
origin. David, the king, though a man after God's own 
heart, in consequence of having "shed much blood," was 
not permitted to build a house in which to record the 
name of his Maker; but a kind Father promised, with an 
oath: "I will set up thy seed after thee, and I will estab- 
lish the throne of his kingdom forever." (2 Sam. vii: 12.) 
To this promise, Solomon, the son and heir, made refer- 
ence, in his dedicatory prayer, of the house which he built, 
(i Kings viii; 25,) to adumbrate the spiritual temple in 
David's line, of which it is written, in the 13 2d Psalm, 
*'The Lord God has chosen Zion for his habitation." 

But the house of God built by Solomon has gone to 
decay, and David's throne is no longer occupied by an 
earthly descendant. The simple and only question now 
to determine is: Does Christ, in the full meaning of the 
prophecies, sit on David's throne, or is he to ascend it at 
a future coming? As this is a question of fad, our appeal 
should be to the sacred records alone. The prophet, in 
allusion to ''a child born and a son given," declared that 
"the government shall be upon his shoulder: and of its 
increase there shall be no end upon the throne of David, 
and upon his kingdom, to order and establish it, from 



TOLBERT FANNING. 521 



henceforth even forever." (Isaiah ix: 6-8.) Again, he 
said: ''In mercy shall the throne be established, and he 
shall sit upon it In truth, in the tabernacle of David." 
(Isaiah xvi: 5.) We can scarcely imagine that any one 
can doubt these declarations point to Christ In his king- 
dom. By another prophet, it is written: ''In that day 
I will raise up the tabernacle of David which is fallen." 
(Amos ix: 11.) This passage is quoted by an apostle. In 
dired reference to the call and salvation of the Gentiles 
by Christ. (Acts xv: 16.) Gabriel, at the miraculous con- 
ception, said: "Fear not, Mary: thou shalt bring forth a 
son, Jesus, and the Lord shall give unto him the throne 
of his father David; he shall reign over the house of Is- 
rael, and of his kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke 
i: 30.) Zacharias, in quoting the ij^d Psalm, applied 
the words: "The Lord God has raised up a horn of sal- 
vation in the house of his servant David," diredly to 
Christ. (Luke i: 69.) But Peter, In referring to the 
promise to David, said: " God hath sworn to David that, 
of the fruit of his loins, he would raise up Christ to sit on 
his throne;" and added: "This Jesus hath God raised 
up. Therefore, being at the right hand of God exalted, 
he hath shed forth this which you now see and hear." 
(Acts il: 25.) If God raised up Jesus Christ to sit on 
David's throne, and crowned him at his own right hand in 
the heavens, to be a Prince and Savior, we can see no room 
for doubting that his kingdom was established as pre- 
dided by the prophets. 

But David himself, at the ascension of Christ, said: 
" Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and let the king of glory 
come In." (Psalm xxlv: 7.) And the Father, at his re- 
ception, announced to a listening and anxious world: "I 
have set my king upon my holy hill of ZIon." More 



522 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



upon the subjed of Christ's having "raised the fallen 
tabernacle of David," and his sitting upon his throne, we 
consider would be quite superfluous. But are we re- 
quired to show that the Church and kingdom are identi- 
cal ? Jesus said : " On this rock I will build my Church," 
and, with the word still hanging upon his lips, added, "J 
will give unto thee (Peter) the keys of the kingdom of 
heaven." Further proof of the identity of Church and 
kingdom can not be necessary. 

Having, however, direded sufficient attention to '■Uhe 
how'' the Church originated in the line of David, by 
Christ's raising his fallen tabernacle, and ascending Da- 
vid's throne, when crowned by the Father, it will be req- 
uisite, in order to maintain connexion, to notice ^'' the 
when and the where'' of the origin of this spiritual taber- 
nacle. 

To the prophets we must again appeal for light. Daniel 
(ii : 44) said: "In the days of these kings" (in the days 
of the kingdoms represented by the ten horns of the wild 
beast) "the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom that 
shall never be destroyed. It shall break in pieces, and 
consume all these kingdoms, and shall stand forever." 

John the Baptist said: "The kingdom of heaven is at 
hand." Jesus Christ repeated these words, and added: 
"Pray thy kingdom come;" encouraged his disciples to 
"seek the kingdom," "knock and it shall be opened;" 
and said: " Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good 
pleasure to give you the kingdom." To Peter, he said: 
" On this rock I will build my Church;" and, just before 
he suffered, he assured his disciples that "there were some 
of them who should not taste of death till they should 
see the kingdom of God." But as the Father kept " times 
and seasons" to himself, neither the angels of Heaven nor 



TOLBERT FANNING. 523 



our Lord knew the day on which the tabernacle would be 
reared. John and Jesus, with the apostles, had been pre- 
paring materials — making ready a people for the Lord's 
house; but till the ascension it had not been reared. Just 
before he left his disciples, they said: "Lord, restore 
the kingdom to Israel." ''Go to Jerusalem," he replied, 
"and wait for the Spirit to guide you into all truth." 

In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, we have nothing 
of the existence of the Church but in promise. But, as 
to place and time, we may learn an important lesson, by 
reference to the house built by Solomon. 

The materials were made ready, and, when brought to- 
gether, the edifice rose in beauty and majesty, without the 
sound of a hammer, or iron instrument, or the least con- 
fusion. 

When the key was placed in the arch, " the glory of 
God filled the house," as a token the work was complete. 
The preparation of materials, bringing them together, and 
rising into an edifice, with such perfed: symmetry, and the 
overshadowing glory, all pointed most significantly to the 
temple to be reared by Christ as David's son. Still, the 
kingdom was not to be seen ; it was not to come by "ob- 
servation," but was to rise miraculously. The materials 
were prepared, were conduced to Jerusalem, whence "the 
word of the Lord was to go out," and the disciples hav- 
ing assembled, the Spirit descended. Peter, by the Spir- 
it's didion, delivered the law; three thousand submitted 
upon the first hearing, and were added to the one hundred 
and twenty, and, altogether, they constituted the Church 
of Jesus Christ; and, for the first time, it is said "The 
saved were daily added to the Church." (Ads ii : 47). 

Hence, Jerusalem was the chosen site of the heavenly 
temple ; and the first Pentecost, after the resurredion of 



5^4 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the Messiah, was the day upon which the Church was 
planted. Peter, indeed, called it '*the beginning.*' Be- 
ginning of what ? The Christian dispensation ? The 
middle wall of partition had been taken down from 
between Jews and Gentiles ; the door of faith had been 
opened to the Jews on Pentecost, and the remaining key 
was employed in opening the temple to the Gentiles, some 
seven years after, at the house of Cornelius, and the work 
being finished, the Lord proclaimed the door open, which 
men could not shut. As further evidence that the king- 
dom now exists, we may add a few plain passages of New 
Testament Scripture. 

Paul declared that the Colossians "had been delivered 
from the power of darkness, and translated into the king- 
dom of God's dear Son." (Col. i: 13.) How this transi- 
tion from the power of darkness into the kingdom could 
have taken place in the days of the apostles, if the king- 
dom is yet in the future, we really think no man can ex- 
plain. 

To the Hebrews he said: "Ye have come to Mount 
Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, 
to the general assembly and church of the first-born, who 
are written in heaven ;" and adds : " Wherefore, we re- 
ceiving a kingdom which can not be moved, let us have 
grace whereby we may serve God acceptably." (Hebrews 
xii : 22-28.) 

Again, he said : " God hath called you into his king- 
dom and glory." (i Thess. ii : 13.) 

The beloved John addressed the saints in the seven 
Asiatic churches as " his companions in tribulation, and 
in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ." (Rev. i: 9.) 

More testimony to show how, when, and where the 
Church arose, the identity of Church and kingdom, and 



TOLBERT FANNING. 525 



the present existence of the spiritual temple, it occurs to 
me, should not be demanded. I trust that we are pre- 
pared to next consider the question — 

III. What is the Teaching of the Spirit upon the 
Subject of Church Organization? 

It is possible there is no subje6l conne(5led with the 
Christian economy shrouded in greater perplexities than 
the organization of the Church; and yet we are persuaded 
that, in the light of the New Testament, there are no in- 
comprehensible mysteries involved. In our candid judg- 
ment, a fair statement of the question will very much con- 
tribute to unity of mind and adion among the saints. 

In the prosecution of our investigation, it will be proper, 
in the first place, to call attention to the meaning of organ- 
ization. In natural history the word denotes a structure^ 
with all the parts or organs wisely adjusted for adlion, 
Thus, a plant or an animal is denominated an organiza- 
tion, because the organs, parts, or instruments are fitted, 
arranged, and marvelously adjusted to enable all the ma- 
chinery to a6t harmoniously. The mutual aftion and 
co-operation of all the parts of the organization are the 
necessary conditions of its health, growth, and efficiency. 
Take from the organization the least of its members, and 
the body is not complete; and it is impossible for one 
organization to perform the work of another. Not even 
a single member of one can be made effective in another. 
Hence, each organization in this vast universe is a sover- 
eignty in itself, as perfect of its kind as the Great Author 
of all organizations. They all, to the spiritually enlight- 
ened, refied the surpassing wisdom of their Great Author. 

The Church of Jesus Christ is called his **body;' 
*' God's husbandry;" *' God's building;" ''the Temple 



526 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



of God/' And hence it is, in the proper meaning of the 
word, an organization. We read of the "head, mouth, 
eyes, feet, hands, ears, the feeble and less honorable mem- 
bers," but each is indispensable to the perfedion of the 
"one body." 

The apostle informs us that Christians "are builded 
together for a habitation of God through the Spirit; " and, 
consequently, God lives in the members, and we in him. 
He is our light and life. 

Next, we may inquire "When," and "How," is a church 
organized? This question is answered in various forms 
by the Spirit, and yet the idea is always the same. From 
the very large amount of instrudion we will select but few 
Scriptures. Each branch ingrafted into the "true vine" 
is, by virtue of its ingrafting, an organ, instrument, and 
essential part of the body; and at the instant the branches 
or members are "tempered," mixed, or fitted together by 
the Father, and give themselves to each other as the spir- 
itually-born kings and priests to God, they, to all intents 
and purposes, constitute a perfedly organized church of 
the saints. 

The new-born babe, at the moment of birth, is as per- 
fed an organization as it can ever become; but the organs 
are feeble, and need suitable nourishment and care. The 
church, also, the day of its planting, is a perfed: organism ; 
but copious draughts of "the sincere milk of the word" 
are essential to the spiritual health and growth of the 
members. 

These matters will appear clearer when we examine a 
ittle more carefully a few Scriptures with reference to this 
very simple conclusion. 

The converts on Pentecost, with the one hundred and 
twenty, were not only pronounced "the Church," but 



TOLBERT FANNING. 527 



the new-born organs exhibited spiritual life in '^ continu- 
ing steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, 
and in breaking of bread, and in prayers." This being 
the first appearance on earth of an organized body of 
Christ, it might be taken as a model for church organi- 
zation. 

In the further prosecution of this subjed, it will be 
necessary to keep in mind that God organizes the Church 
by the Spirit, and when the ''building is fitly framed to- 
gether, it grows into a holy temple in the Lord." Or, as 
the apostle says : "All the body by joints and bands, hav- 
ing nourishment ministered, and knit together, increases 
with the increase of God." As mortar is tempered and 
made fit for use by wisely adjusting the elements, God 
has tempered, knit, and compared the body together, 
"that there should be no schism, but the members should 
have the same care for one another." (i Cor. xii: 24.) In 
the same connexion the apostle says: "God has set the 
members every one of them in the body, as it has pleased 
him." (i Cor. xii: 18.) This is the key to the whole sub- 
ject of church organization. 

Are we asked how "God sets the members in the 
body?" how he tempers {mixes) them together for harmo- 
nious adlion and growth? The Spirit points to Christ 
as the "Head and Savior of the body." Therefore, no 
ele6lion or ordination by the members, can set a head to 
the body. God says to the senior members: "Take heed 
to yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy 
Spirit has made (set or placed) you overseers. If God 
has set the experienced members, as "Stephanas, the first 
fruits of Achaia, and others with him, who addided them- 
selves to the service of the saints," as his chosen shepherds, 
to whom the members, in consequence of their "help and 



^528 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



labor," were to "submit," we have forever settled the 
vexed question of official appointments. God does it. 
Hence, Elder Peter said to experienced members: "Feed 
the flock of God, taking the oversight, not by constraint, 
but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 
not as lords over God's heritage, but as ensamples to the 
flock: and when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall 
receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." 

The senior women, also, God has "set," appointed, and 
ordained in the Church, as the natural and only competent 
"teachers of the younger women." 

The younger are commanded to "submit to the elder; " 
and, finally, "all are to submit one to another," and to 
"esteem each other highly in love, for their work sake," 
and on no other account whatever. Therefore, all offi- 
cials are the natural and legitimate outgrowth of the 
Church. 

This Divine organization, as intimated, began at Pen- 
tecost; but many things "were wanting" to perfect the 
body in the days of the apostles. It may be pronounced 
the day of. the Church's childhood, in which, although the 
Spirit directed in all things, the members "looked through 
a glass darkly," till the " perfection " came. 

The saints were perfeded for the work of ministering 
to the nations, for building up the body of Christ, and 
came to the unity of the faith at the completion of the 
revelation. They attained to the knowledge of a perfect 
man in Jesus Christ. Henceforth, they "were no more 
children, tossed to and fro, and carried about by every 
wind of dodrine," but, by the members, "speaking the 
truth in love," were to grow up into him in all things, and 
to make increase of the body unto the upbuilding of itself 
in love." 



TOLEERT FANNING. 529 



I now feel at liberty to pronounce this the Lord's 
ORGANIZATION, and, as I hope to show presently, ''the 
Lord's plan," for all spiritual service. 

If these things embody the instructions of the New 
Testament, upon the great subjed of spiritual organiza- 
tion, how are we to regard the condud: of professed Church 
organizers, when they assume the right to appoint heads, 
overseers, pastors, and other officials over God's house- 
hold? This, though it is the pradice of Rome and all 
her daughters, to say the least, has not the slightest sem- 
blance of Divine authority. 

The fancy of preachers that they organize and reorgan- 
ize churches, by professing to make elders, deacons, over- 
seers, or other officials, is wholly unscriptural, and a re- 
proach to any people professing to be led by the Spirit. 
I would be pleased to answer every possible objecflion to 
these conclusions; but, in the circumstances, I can only 
pray our friends to give the subjed: a calm and impartial 
examination. 

If I have comprehended the meaning of the body of 
Christ, it strengthens and grows ab intra, and not ab 
extra, from the poor husks furnished by the world and 
its wisdom ; and thus we are brought to ask — 

IV. Is THE Church a carnal, mixed, or spiritual 
organization ? 

The sin of the present religious world seems to consist 
in giving the Church no higher position than the govern- 
ments of the earth. Hence, we know no party that has 
not either formed alliances with the State, or, in some 
manner, sought the protedion and friendship of govern- 
ments under the diredion of the prince of this world. It 
is the glory of most religious parties in America, that their 
34 



S30 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



organizations are modeled after the government of the 
United States. 

But it is the fatal error of these churches, with most 
prophetical writers — from Baxter, in his Napoleonic Anti- 
christ, to Baldwin, in his millennial and world-wide de- 
mocracy — to fail to discover the spiritual organization, 
called ''God's house." Perhaps, a very brief examination 
of the Church and world-powers may be in place. These 
may be clearly seen, by even a bird's-eye glance, at the 
elements of each. It has, however, been said of us, that 
our conclusions are not clear in regard to the Church and 
world-powers. At this friendly intimation we are not at 
all suprised. It is said that objeds, seen through colored 
glasses, never appear as they really exist; and we appre- 
hend, that persons so wholly devoted to earthly govern- 
ments and worldly-wise institutions, for the work of God, 
as the great masses of the people of this age, would not 
likely discover the spiritual organization of the New Tes- 
tament. Worldly wisdom for worldly labor; but into the 
Spirit's temple, the wisdom of man can not penetrate. 

How could we exped such as look through Roman and 
Protestant mists, to see the fair proportions and Divine 
symmetry of the body of Christ ^ 

But to the elements of the respedive orders of institu- 
tions we are contemplating, we must carefully look for 
satisfadory light. 

Worldly governments are not for the righteous, said 
Paul ; and, therefore, God has ordained the men of the 
world as his ministers to create and dired: all institutions 
worldly. In his spiritual household, our heavenly Father 
has reserved the right to govern without the admixture of 
the least human wisdom, which the apostle says is ''fool- 
ishness with God." The prince of this world is the head 



TOLBERT FANNING. 53 T 



and governor, in all kingdoms and organizations con- 
struded in the wisdom of men. His subjeds are such as 
are devoted to institution? not Divine. Force is the great 
controlling power. 

In Christ's body, on the contrary, the Head is spiritual ; 
his subjeds are spiritual; his laws are spiritual; and love 
is the only motive power. To us these institutions, there- 
fore, differ across the whole heavens. May we not call to 
our aid a few very plain passages of Scripture, as evidence 
that we are not mistaken. 

Our Lord said: "The field is the world; the good seed 
are the children of the kingdom ; but the tares are the 
children of the wicked one." To the Jews, he said: ''Ye 
are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye 
will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and 
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him." 
(John viii : 44.) 

From these statements, we learn that, while the wheat 
and tares grow together in the world, the good seed, rep- 
resenting Christians, are "the children of the kingdom;" 
and though in the world, " are not of the world," while the 
tares are the devil's sowing and plants. In that solemn 
declaration of the Savior before Pilate — "My kingdom is 
not of this world ; if it were, my servants would fight that I 
should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is my king- 
dom not from hence" — possibly is embodied all that need 
be predicated of the spiritual chara6ter of the Church for 
our present purpose. In the Christian institution, then, 
" swords are beaten into ploughshares, and spears into 
pruning-hooks," and God's people "study not war." No 
violence was necessary to give success to the government 
of Christ, and his people employ it not in their journey 
to the skies. God is their shield' and high tower. If, 



S3^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



through these great words of the Spirit, our friends can 
not see the broad line between the Church and the world, 
it is not in my power to describe it. 

V. What is the legitimate work of this Spiritual 

ORGANIZATION ? 

Caesar, in his memorable dispatch to the Roman Senate, 
embodied a volume in the simple words, '' I came, I saw, 
I conquered;" and of our beloved Savior it may be said: 
He came to earth, to save the lost; he provided the means 
in his Church, and he will not be foiled in his purposes. 

If men are dead to God, if they are in the broad fields 
of ''the wicked one," we can not see how they can be par- 
doned or saved till they renounce their old master, "turn 
from darkness to light," and become loyal to Jesus Christ, 
by ''obeying from the heart that form of dodtrine through 
which they are set free from sin, and become the servants 
of righteousness." (Romans vi : 17.) Hence, when the 
wicked turn to God, they are said, as we have seen, to be 
" delivered from the power of darkness, and translated 
into the kingdom of God's dear Son." (Col. i : 13.) Jesus 
said : " Come to me, take my yoke, and you shall find 
rest to your souls." This is fully illustrated by the 
" householder who went out early in the morning to hire 
laborers into his vineyard;" and having agreed with them, 
"he sent them into his vineyard to work." 

If it was an essential condition, in order to perform the 
service of the householder, to enter into the vineyard, we 
may readily conclude that the works of God can not be 
performed in the kingdom of the wicked one. Not only 
does the entrance into the body of Christ secure the re- 
mission of sins, the adoption into the heavenly family, 
" life from the dead," and the full enjoyment of the Holy 



TOLBERT FANNING. S33 



Spirit — but, at the close of our pilgrimage, our Lord will 
deliver up his kingdom — his chosen people — to his Father, 
that '' God may be all and in all." With this agrees the 
declaration of the wise man, that ''The sacrifice of the 
wicked is an abomination to the Lord; but the prayer of 
the upright is his delight." (Proverbs xv ; 8.) Hence, 
the proposition that there are really two, and but two, 
kingdoms or orders of government on the earth — the one 
under the prince of this world, the devil, and the other 
under the Prince of Peace — is'true beyond controversy. 
Under the guidance of the God of this world, who is 
supreme in all worldly governments and organizations 
originating in the wisdom of men, we consider it entirely 
safe to conclude that spiritual life can not be enjoyed. 
But, thanks to Godj whoever will has the right to forsake 
the kingdom of darkness, and become an heir of God 
through Christ. 

In this connexion, it can but be considered an ad of 
simple justice to at least advert to what must, sooner or 
later, be acknowledged in the world's history as ^^l^he Re- 
formatory Movement of the nineteenth century T 

We consider it becoming to state, in plain terms, the 
position which clearly distinguishes the body of Christ 
from all other relio-ious organizations. 

From the apostasy of the Romish and Greek Churches 
to this day, there can not be found, in the history of de- 
nominations. Papal or Protestant, an earnest effort to re- 
turn to the spiritual purity and authority of the Church of 
God. True, Luther, Calvin, and Wesley made war upon 
the accumulated church corruptions of the ages; but it 
never entered into their hearts to doubt the capacity of 
institutions originating in apostasy to save the world. 
Hence, we hear not a word from them in favor of return- 



534 THE LIVING PULPIT, 



ing to the ancient order of things. Each became per- 
fectly satisfied with the formation of a new se6l, on the 
model of Rome; and, at the close of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, the ne plus ultra of partisan degradation seemed to 
have been reached. 

Early in the nineteenth century, however, it pleased God 
to raise up witnesses, quite as humble as our Lord and 
his apostles, to plead for a pure speech and a pure religion. 
The effort has been successful in calling from the world, 
and the very depths of spiritual Babylon, into religious 
union, hundreds of thousands, who fear not to give an 
authoritative reason for their hope. 

These great men of God split with Romanism, Protest- 
antism, and all other forms of human organizations, sim- 
ply upon the ground that they had lost all confidence in 
institutions originating in the wisdom of men to save the 
lost and elevate society to the state of purity required in 
the New Testament. 

We have not assailed Romanism, or Protestantism, 
with the idea of forming a new sed, but solely from the 
solemn conviction that religious parties are inadequate for 
the work intended by the Church of Christ. If, in our 
hearts, we could conclude that denominations, societies, 
and organizations not known in the New Testament were 
capable of the spiritual labor ordained by Christ and the 
apostles, not a word against them would escape our lips. 
While we disclaim all connexion with Romish and Prot- 
estant se(5ts, we solemnly deny ourselves the right to add 
another fadlion to the six hundred and sixty-six which com- 
pleted the degradation of the apostasy. It is our rejoicing 
that we have no denomination, party, or creed to defend, 
and no plans, expedients, or organizations that have arisen, 
in our wisdom and discretion, to foster. Still, our distinct- 



TOLBERT FANNING. 535 



ive position is not negative. Nay, verily; we humbly 
claim to be the Lord's freedmen; and, confidently believ- 
ing that the Church built upon the rock — ''the pillar and 
support of the truth" — has so far weathered the storm of 
fadious opposition, that it will finally triumph over his 
Satanic majesty's expedients, we therefore aspire to nothing 
beyond membership in the body of Christ. All who be- 
lieve through the apostles' words we claim as our brethren ; 
and we will have fellowship on no other terms. Believing 
that all things which pertain to. life and godliness are fur- 
nished in the Scriptures, we take the Bible, in good faith, 
as our only creed, and ask no one to believe or do any thing 
of a religious charader for which we have not ''a thus saith 
the Lord." Not only do we regard the Church of God as 
competent for all spiritual work, but that the adoption of 
any other organization for such service, as most displeasing 
to heaven and injurious to man. 

Hence, we can but urge our cotemporaries to be Chris- 
tians in the Scriptural sense of the word; for, without cit- 
izenship in the kingdom of God's dear Son, and a faith- 
ful adherence to the creed furnished by the Spirit, eternal 
life is not promised. 

VL The Conflicts of the Church. 

The war between Michael and Satan is still raging. The 
destroyer has diligently labored, but in vain, from the 
planting of the Church at Jerusalem on Pentecost, to 
overthrow the cause, for the protedion of which the verac- 
ity of the Father's throne is pledged. The deceiver still 
employs the principalities, powers, and expedients of the 
world to overthrow the kingdom of the Savior. Hence 
we can not hope for conflids to cease until the Lord shall 
have put the last enemy under his feet. 



536 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



VII. Will the Church of Christ finally triumph ? 

If God is true, his purposes can not fail; and if the 
Spirit's teaching affords the only authority to which we can 
confidently look, it is our exalted privilege to believe that 
the time is not far distant when the problem of self-gov- 
ernment, civil and ecclesiastical, will have been worked 
out — when, from the utter failure of worldly-wise organi- 
zations for spiritual labor, the Church of Christ will shine 
forth '^ fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an 
army with banners." Then, and not until then, will her 
true mission be acknowledged. 




^ -2/^-7 ,/7 ,'';^/Z^c^^^ 






y 



'/y^z^ 



-^--v^^ 



WILLIAM THOMAS MOORE.* 



WILLIAM THOMAS MOORE was born in Henry County, Ken 
tucky, August 27, 1832. His paternal ancestors were Irish; his 
maternal, Scotch. His immediate parents were from Virginia. When 
nine years of age, his father died, leaving a widow and six children, and, 
for a number of years, William was the chief dependence of the bereaved 
family. Thus early were the boy's energies of body and mind called to 
grapple with toil and care; but, doubtless, it was during these years that 
the foundation of his subsequent successes was laid. From the necessities 
of his position, his education was neglefted, and, at eighteen years of age, 
his scholastic attainments comprehended reading and writing — no more; 
but, having an innate thirst for knowledge, he had read whatever books had 
come in his way — especially had he read the Bible. 

At eighteen, Mr. Moore entered an academy at Newcastle, Kentucky, 
and, having passed through a preparatory course of study there, and having 
improved his financial affairs by teaching for a season, he entered Bethany 
College, Virginia, in the autumn of 1855. In July, 1858, having been chosen 
from a class of twenty-four to deliver the Valedi6lory Address, he was 
graduated Bachelor of Arts. In 06lober of the same year, he was chosen 
pastor of the Church of Christ in Frankfort, Kentucky, and remained its 
pastor till the spring of 1864, when he resigned, on account of failing 
health. In June, 1864, he was married to Miss Mary A. Bishop, second 
daughter of R. M. Bishop, of Cincinnati, Ohio. On the first of January, 
1865, his health having greatly improved, Mr. Moore accepted a call to 
the pastoral work in the Church of Christ in Detroit, Michigan. Although 
his labors there were being attended by the most encouraging success, yet, 
having been elefted to a Professorship in Kentucky University, he left De- 
troit in February, 1866, and entered at once on the labors appointed him 
in the University. Meanwhile, he had received a call from the Church 
of God, Eighth and Walnut streets, Cincinnati, Ohio, and, having ascer- 

* In justice to the Editor of this work, it is proper to state that this sketch of his life was written, at 
the request of the Publishers, by Dr. L. L. Pinkerton, and appears just as he wrote it. 

(537) 



538 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



tained that, for the present, the duties of his University Chair could be met 
by a brief course of ledlures in each session, he accepted the call of the 
Church. He holds both offices at the present time, Oftober, 1867. 

Besides his almost continuous labors as pastor and evangelist, W. T. 
Moore has prepared and delivered a number of public addresses on a va- 
riety of topics, some of which have been published, and w^idely circulated. 
He has also edited a portion of A. Campbell's "Lectures on the Penta- 
teuch," and this volume of Discourses and Biographical Sketches. Amid 
these constant and varied engagements, he has found leisure to toy slightly 
with the Muses; nor have these coy nymphs rudely repelled his wooings. 
Several short poems, chiefly lyric and elegiac, have found their way into 
print and into public favor. His love of poetry and of music, and his ap- 
preciation of the excellencies of both, rendered his services of incalculable 
value in the compilation of the ** Christian Hymn Book " — the best extant 
colledlion of sacred sonnets in the English language. 

The lessons of persevering toil learned in boyhood in the hill country 
of Henry County, Kentucky, have not been lost, nor has the love of read- 
ing that charafterized the boy disappeared in the man. He believes in 
progress, from the high even to the still higher, and illustrates his faith 
by his works. Withal, he never seems to be busy; in faft, does not seem 
to be doing any thing when out of the pulpit, nor intending to do any 
thing; and yet he can be seldom, if ever, idle, as this brief record abun- 
dantly attests. With no bustle or apparent motion, there is execution — ■ 
progress. Few men have accomplished more, in the same time, and under 
similar circumstances, than has W. T. Moore. 

His manner in the pulpit, whether of action or utterance, indicates deep 
earnestness. His style sometimes borders on the vehement, but never on 
the declamatory. The points in his discourses are generally well chosen, 
forcibly argued, and clearly illustrated, and, when pradlical, powerfully en- 
forced. But his success as a minister is owing much less to his logic than 
to the warm and wide sympathy which pervades and vivifies it. His is 
heart-power — a power without which the logic of Paul and the eloquence 
of Apollos combined would fail to awaken the conscience of the impeni 
tent sinner, or arouse the energies of the careless believer. 

With whatever is beautiful, and good, and true; with every thing that 
is pitiable, or distressed, or down-fallen, or oppressed; with all that is ele- 
vating, ennobling, hopeful, God has given to W. T. Moore a quick, a deep, 
an irresistible sympathy, so that he is ready to rejoice with the happy, and 
to weep with those that weep. He is ever forward to engage in whatever 
promises true advancement, and to share his last resources with those he 
esteems worthy, but who have grown weary and lame, and have thus fallen 
or faltered in the struggle q{ life. 



FAITH AND SIGHT. 



BY W. T. MOORE. 



"For we walk by faith, and not by sight." — 2 Cor. v: 7. 

IN our present state, we are necessarily connedled with 
two worlds — the natural and the supernatural — and 
from these we derive all the means of our temporal and 
spiritual life. The natural satisfies the senses, and is, 
indeed, the soil on which they grow; but only the super- 
natural can satisfy the conditions of the spirit, for its im- 
mortal longings reach far beyond the confines of sensuous 
and earthly things. These two worlds constitute man's 
entire area of thought and adlion, affording ample oppor- 
tunities for the exercise alike of his physical and spiritual 
natures. In one, we walk by Sight; in the other, by Faith. 
Let it be distinctly stated, however, that there is no nec- 
essary conflict between the natural and the supernatural. 
These are complements of each other, and are both essen- 
tial to meet the requirements of our organization, as well 
as to fulfill the purposes of God in us. It is time that 
the crude, irrational, and unphilosophical conclusion, that 
God, in his moral government, is forever contradidting 
the laws of the physical, had become obsolete — a fossil of 
a by-gone, semi-christian civilization. God does not con- 

(539) 



540 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



tradicfl himself, but is perfectly consistent in all his works. 
Hence, there is no necessary antagonism between spirit 
and sense; neither is there any between Faith and Sight. 
But, while this is true, it is equally true that Faith and 
Sight are exceedingly jealous of each other. No encroach- 
ments upon the boundaries of either must be made, for 
when it is otherwise, a conflid; at once begins, which not 
unfrequently ends in the destruction of happiness, and the 
ruin of the soul. Each has its distind:ive province, and 
this is sacred against all interference. It becomes, there- 
fore, a matter of grave importance to corredly define the 
boundaries of these, and whatever other relations they 
may sustain to each other. Hence, in order to treat the 
whole subjed in a manner somewhat commensurate with 
its importance, I propose to observe the following plan : 

I. Show THE difference between Faith and Sight; 
11. Trace the analogy between them; 
HI. Illustrate the Superiority of Faith. 

In presenting and developing these points, I shall avoid, 
as far as possible, every thing like abstract or metaphysical 
reasoning, though, in the very nature of things, I shall be 
compelled to go somewhat out of the ordinary path of 
pulpit discourse. I will endeavor, however, to be as sim- 
ple in my treatment as the charader of the subje6t will per- 
mit; and trust that, by Divine assistance, I may be able 
to present every thing in such a way as that all may un- 
derstand and be benefited by the investigation. Let us, 
then, consider — 

I. The Difference between Faith and Sight. 

It will greatly facilitate our progress in this inquiry, if 
we keep in memory what has already been stated in ref- 



W. T. MOORE. 541 



erence to the distind province occupied resped:ively by 
Faith and Sight. It must never be forgotten that they 
do not belong to the same territory, and that it is only by 
keeping them entirely separate that harmony between them 
is preserved. 

The term 8ight^ in the text, may be defined as embrac- 
ing every thing outside of Faith, Whatever belongs to the 
Senses, or the Reason, is clearly included in it. Hence, 
Sense, Reason, and Faith cover the whole ground of the 
natural and the supernatural, t4ie visible and invisible, the 
temporal and eternal; and to understand the relation of 
these to each other, and to know how to appropriate the 
knowledge derived respedtively from them, is the end of 
all study, the consummation of all effort. 

I shall now attempt to illustrate these matters in such 
a way as that no one can fail to understand my meaning. 
If you look upon an objedl, the soul will be afFe6led ac- 
cording to the qualities of that objed. If the objed is a 
beautiful landscape, the impression made will be agreeable 
— the soul will enjoy the view; but if the object is an un- 
gainly thing — something possessing repulsive qualities — 
it will be disagreeable^ and you will experience a very un- 
pleasant sensation. Hence, it may be affirmed that all 
sensuous knowledge — that is, knowledge derived diredly 
through the senses — is either agreeable or disagreeable, 
pleasant or unpleasant; and that, therefore, it is the prov- 
ince of Sense to determine the qualities of things. 

If, however, you demonstrate that the ^' square de- 
scribed on the hypothenuse of a right-angled triangle is 
equal to the sum of the squares described on the other 
two sides," it can not be said that there is any thing agree- 
able or disagreeable, pleasant or unpleasant in that. True, 
there is a sense of enjoyment when the conclusion is 



542 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



reached ; but this is no part of the demonstration. The 
feeling experienced is after the problem f asses from the Rea- 
son to the Senses, But the demonstration itself is a step 
higher than the Senses. It is in the domain of the Reason, 
and the knowledge which you derive from your effort 
may be denominated rational^ because it comes from the 
relation of things, and not their qualities. This is a new 
field upon which you have entered, and you no longer 
behold the enchanting sunsets, the meandering rivers, and 
the beautiful landscapes which every-where meet the view 
in the world of qualities; nor do you any longer hear the 
ravishing music of singing birds, laughing rivulets, and 
dashing waterfalls, as they mingle their strange and won- 
derful harmonies into a grand oratorio, the sound of which 
inspires all the region of the sense-land. You have for- 
gotten all these, and are now at work in the world of 
causes and wherefores, the possible and impossible, where 
sensation gives place to demonstration, and light comes 
only through the pure Reason. 

We have now briefly surveyed the dominion of Sight; 
but there are many things yet to be learned. We have 
done little more than cast a pebble into the great waters 
of the unknown. The past, with all its joys and sor- 
rows, buried beneath the weight of six thousand years ; 
and the future, with its hopes and fears, stretching out 
before us like a shoreless ocean, whose treasures can not 
be gathered, and whose mysteries can not be explained by 
either Sense or Reason, are yet unexplored. But, thanks 
to our heavenly Father, we are not left in darkness here. 
Over all this invisible land, Faith holds undisputed sway. 
Just at the point where Sight ends. Faith begins. When Sense 
and Reason become helpless and blind, then Faith spreads 
her wings, and leads on through the regions beyond. Did 



W. T. MOORE. 543 



such a man as the first Napoleon live and ad: the part 
ascribed to him in history? If so, how does it become a 
part of our stock of knowledge? Is it because it is agree- 
able or disagreeable ? Or can it be demonstrated from 
the relation of things ? Can either Sense or Reason reach 
back into the past, and bring this fad into the knowledge 
of the present? Who does not see that it is a subjed 
entirely out of the range of either of these, and that, no 
matter how they may be afFed:ed by it, the fa5l is not 
changed in any way whatever ?- It is equally independent 
of the likes and dislikes of mankind, and the boasted 
power of human reason. All that you can say about it 
is, that it is either true or false. If false, nothing can 
make it true; if true, nothing can make it false. Matters 
of faith ^ then^ are matters of fa5l ; and these can be determined 
only by the weight of testimony. 

If what has been already stated be true, it must be evi- 
dent that there are but three ways in which knowledge can 
be derived, viz., through the senses, the pure reason, and 
by faith. And, for the sake of a convenient classification, 
we may call the first, sensuous knowledge ; the second, 
rational knowledge; and the third, the knowledge of tes- 
timony. These comprehend all knowledge, and exhaust 
the area of the natural and the supernatural. In harmony 
with this classification, we have three systems of religion, 
viz.. Paganism, Rationalism, and Christianity; and, upon 
investigation, it will be found that the charaderistics of 
these correspond respedively to Sense, Reason, and Faith. 
Let us now examine these systems briefly, and see what 
their ruling principles are. 

I . Paganism is the religion of Sense. 

It proposes nothing higher than the Senses as an objed 



544 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



of worship, and is constantly controlled by an unrelent- 
ing, sensuous philosophy. The appetites and passions 
become the gods of this Godless religion. Under its teach- 
ings, men seek that which satisfies the lusts of the flesh; 
while every grace of a higher civilization is either destroyed 
or driven into eternal banishment. Virtue is insulted in 
the arms of Bacchus ; Righteousness is burned in the Tem- 
ple of Moloch; Truth is lost in the Pantheon ; Innocence 
is chained to the Car of Juggernaut; Love lies bleeding 
under the heel of Mars; and Peace hears nothing but 
eternal strife. And yet, all this exhibits but a faint pic- 
ture of the blighting curse of Paganism in its influence on 
the civilization of the world. But, if any thing further is 
needed to illustrate the diabolical spirit of this sensuistic 
religion, it is only necessary to hear what the apostle says 
concerning its workings when the people were fully under 
its control: ^' Being filled with all unrighteousness, for- 
nication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness ; full of 
envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, back- 
biters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, invent- 
ors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without under- 
standing, covenant breakers, without natural afFedion, 
implacable, unmerciful: who, knowing the judgment of 
God, that they which commit such things are worthy of 
death; not only do the same, but have pleasure in them 
that do them." (Rom. i: 29-32.) These people were 
certainly the chief of sinners; and, after such an enumer- 
ation, can we wonder that the apostle gloried in the Cross 
by which he was crucified to the world, and the world to 
him? 

But what is modern Ritualism but a refined Paganism? 
Is not the principle of both precisely the same? What 
mean all the forms and ceremonies of Ritualism, if they 



W. T. MOORE. 545 



be not to charm the Senses ? From this stand-point it does 
not require much refledion to determine the secret of the 
success of Catholicism. Take away its liturgy, its ritual 
service — strip it of every thing except what is legitimately 
Christian, and it will not be long before the pontifical 
throne is vacated, and the mistress of the world is hum- 
bled in the dust. Catholicism, as opposed to Rationalism, 
is a religion of superstition ; but as opposed to Christian- 
ity, it is a religion of flesh. 

2. Rationalism is the Religion oj Reason, 

As such, it is only a step higher than sensualism. It is 
simply more respectable. While one glories in the 'Musts 
of the flesh," the other glories in the ''pride of life." 
Rationalism may deplore the fearful consequences of sin 
as seen in the progress of sensualism; but it can neither 
account for that sin, nor offer an adequate remedy for it. 
It stands, in the presence of the world's greatest need, a 
condemned pretender, a vaunting hypocrite. It has yet 
to learn the palpable truism, that religion is philosophy ^ hut 
-philosophy is not religion. What care I for the boasted 
powers of human reason, the wonderful revelations of 
science, and the splendid trophies of genius, while all these 
-perish with their using, and offer nothing to the sad, sick, and 
weary soul beyond the things of time and sense? What 
a cheat this Rationalism is! And how impotent to meet 
our real wants! It has recently somewhat revived in 
Europe and this country, and, under the leadership of 
such men as Renan, Colenso, Leckey, and Emerson, it 
promises great things. But it is the same old story of 
philosophy against religion, the natural against the super- 
natural. Sight against Faith, which has been the irrepressi- 
ble conflid of ages. The Apostle Paul found the same 
35 



54^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



thing at Corinth; and the reason he gave for it then will 
account for it to-day: "The preaching of the cross is to 
them that perish foolishness, but unto us who are saved, 
it is the power of God/' (i Cor. i: i8.) 

3. Christianity is the Religion of Faith, 

No higher encomium could be pronounced upon Chris- 
tianity than is contained in this statement. Christ's king- 
dom is not of this world. Hence, the religion which he 
established is not carnal, but spiritual. Christianity, then, 
rises far above the sensuous and rational, and rests its 
claim on Divine authority. Which? is the question Pa- 
ganism or Ritualism asks. It seeks after only the agree- 
able and pleasant — those things which satisfy the demands 
of the senses — while Rationalism is equally persistent in 
pressing the everlasting Why? looking only for the cause 
or reason of things, and attempting to solve the mysteries 
of our present state by the revelations of science. But the 
question which Christianity asks is What ? and has resped, 
not to pleasure or philosophy, but to duty. With all its 
qualifying words, it stands thus : Lord, what wilt Thou 

HAVE ME TO DO? 

It should ever be remembered that Christianity is not a 
religion of pleasure, but of self-abnegation, of self-cruci- 
fixion. We are constantly exhorted to ''deny ourselves," 
to "keep the body under," to "crucify the lusts of the 
flesh," and to "suffer for righteousness' sake;" showing 
clearly that the enjoyment derived from the service of 
Christ is not sensuous, but spiritual. As followers of 
Jesus, we may exped to meet innumerable crosses; and 
if this were not so, we might question our final triumph, 
for it is only by the Cross we reach the Crown. 

This peculiarity of the Christian religion seems to have 



W. T. MOORE. 547 



been very generally overlooked by our modern system- 
makers, who would like to have the charities of the Gos- 
pel include all the follies and pleasures of mankind; but, 
He who spake as never man spake, said: ''Wide is the 
gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruftion, and 
many there be that go in thereat: because straight is the 
gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth to life, and few 
there be that find it." (Matt, vii: 13, 14.) 

It becomes, therefore, a matter of great importance to 
determine by what principles we are guided in our relig- 
ious ads. Is our service the ''obedience of faith," or the 
obedience of sight? Are we seeking to gratify the senses, 
or to adorn and beautify the spirit.? Is our service mere 
lip-service, or do we worship in spirit and in truth? A 
proper answer to these questions will do much toward de- 
termining our true relations to Christ. 

If you wish to see how wide-spread and how desolat- 
ing the religion of Sight is, go to the people, and talk to 
them about obeying the Gospel. You will constantly hear 
such expressions as these: "Every body should belong 
to some church;" "I prefer the Presbyterian Church;" 
"The Episcopal service suits me best — it is so beautiful;" 
"I like Dr. A., and I will join his church," etc. All these 
clearly indicate that self-satisfaction is the principal 
thing aimed at. Esthetics, and not Christ, is the objecft 
of the worship of thousands. Poor sinners, this is not the 
kind of obedience Christ demands. What you like or dis- 
like has nothing to do with your salvation, and is not the 
question for you to consider. You must walk by Faith, and 
not by Sight. The all-absorbing, all-important question is, 
What does the Lord say? When this is satisfadorily answered, 
you can go forward, with the blessed assurance that you 
can "do all things through Christ, who stVengthens you." 



54^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



But again: What business have you with the reason of 
the command? Can you exped: to fathom the deep pur- 
poses of God? Why, you can not explain the most fa- 
miliar thing. If, when surveying the legitimate realms 
of philosophy, you frequently stumble, and fall, can you 
exped: to walk by Sight a single moment in religion? 
Should you entertain such an idea, let me assure you that 
Faith alone can lead you through the darkness of the pres- 
ent to a bright and glorious future. 

II. The Analogy between Faith and Sight. 

The New Testament abounds in analogical teaching, but 
the great Teacher more especially excels in this method of 
presenting truth. Nothing could be more striking, and 
certainly nothing more instructive, than this method, when 
properly used. Besides the ^^r//V///(^r truth it unfolds, in 
any given case, it teaches us the general truth that material 
things are to be valued, not as an end, but as a means; and 
that, therefore, the Senses and the Reason are but instru- 
ments by which the soul travels toward the regions of Faith, 
and are only useful while operating in their proper spheres. 
Hence they must not be allowed to trespass upon the 
dominion of Faith, for it can hold no partnerships, make 
no compromises; it must have undisputed and unlimited 
control over its own. Let us now examine the analogy be- 
tween Faith and Sight. Sight clearly implies three things : 

I. The organ of sight — the eye. 

1. The medium of sight — light. 

3. An objed upon which to look. 

Now when these three things are perfed there will be 
perfed vision; but remove one — no matter which — and 
there can be no vision at all. Precisely so is it with Faith. 
Three things are necessary to it also : 



W. T MOORE. 549 



I. There must be the organ of Faith — the capacity to believe. 

Have we this capacity? Are we capable of believing 
truth when it is presented before us? Certainly no one 
ought to hesitate in answering these questions. But, 
strange to say, some men have doubted our capacity to be- 
lieve — men, too, who are regarded as lights in the Church, 
and whose opinions carry with them great weight. Surely, 
such men do not understand what they teach. 

I do not propose to discuss -this question. In fa6l, it 
is not a question within the range of legitimate discussion. 
It is a question of experience, and can be decided only by 
an appeal to every man*s consciousness. Every man must 
decide for himself; no one can do it for him. True, the 
aggregate testimony of men can be taken, but the ques- 
tion then becomes a matter of Faith, the ridiculousness of 
which will appear when an individual attempts to express 
himself in the language which this position forces him to 
use. '*I believe that I can believe," is not very passable 
English, and certainly does not sound out with the same 
assurance as '^I know that I can believe." The question, 
then, is not one of faith or philosophy, but of actual knowl- 
edge. In order to make my meaning more fully under- 
stood, I will illustrate: For several hours, upon a pair of 
scales, suspended by a rope, you have been weighing a thou- 
sand pounds at a time. A gentleman steps up, and, after 
examining the rope, and making a long and intricate calcu- 
lation, he gravely informs you that he thoroughly under- 
stands the philosophy of ropes, and that this one is not 
now, and never was, capable of bearing up more than five 
hundred pounds? What would you think of this man's 
philosophy ? And how long would you stop to reason with 
him about the matter? If you were to consume time with 



S50 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



him at all, you would simply say to him, "Ihat you did 
not care what his philosophy taught; that you had tried 
the rope sufficiently, and knew, from adual experience, that 
he was mistaken/' So say to every man that doubts your 
ability to believe the Gospel. 

•2. Inhere must he the medium of Faith. 

The apostle says : *' Faith comes by hearing, and hearing 
by the word of God." (Rom. x: 17.) This, then, settles 
the question as to what is the medium of Faith. Clearly, 
it is the Word of God. And this at once elevates our view 
of that Word, and gives us better conceptions of the pre- 
ciousness of Faith. We bless the hand that bears us the 
gift. In what reverence, then, should we hold the Word 
of God, which brings to us such a glorious gift as Faith ! 

3. Faith must have an ohjeEi — something upon which to 
rest. 

What is this objed? Let the Holy Scriptures answer: 
"God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten 
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but 
have everlasting life; " ''This is the work of God, that ye 
believe on him whom he hath sent;" "He that believeth 
on me hath everlasting life; " "Ye believe in God, believe 
also in me;''' ''''Believe on the Lord Jesus Christy and thou 
shalt be saved." Many other passages could be quoted, 
but these are deemed sufficient to show that the objed: of 
our Faith is the precious Savior. And what a blessed fadt 
this is! How consoling to the heart that is tired of the 
endless controversies about creeds and doc5lrines ! And 
with what joyful trust does the poor, houseless wanderer 
come to this sure foundation-stone which God has laid in 
Zion ! The Christian's Faith is not do5frinal, but personal ; 



W. T. MOORE. 551 



not belief In a theory^ but in a Divine and glorious char- 
a^er; not the reception of a cold, lifeless dogma, but a 
hearty, earnest trust in one whose love is stronger than a 
brother s; who is *' touched with a feeling of our infirmi- 
ties; " who "knows our frame, and remembers that we are 
dust." 

But let us notice in what particulars Christ addresses 
our confidence. Is he worthy? Certainly he who has been 
appointed " heir of all things ; " "by whom the worlds were 
made; " who is the "brightness of the Father's glory, and 
the express image of his person;" who is "seated at the 
right hand of the Majesty on high;" whose " throne is for 
ever and ever;" who "loves righteousness and who hates 
iniquity; " and " whom all the angels worship," is worthy 
of our most unqualified trust and our highest adoration. 

Has he done any thing for us that entitles him to our confi- 
dence? Read his history. Follow him from his birth to 
the last scenes on Calvary. His life was one of toil, sor- 
row, and self-denial, that he might teach us "how sublime 
a thing it is to suffer and be strong." But who can wit- 
ness his last dying agony on the Cross without exclaim- 
ing— 

"Were the whole realm of nature mine. 
That were a present far too small ; 
Love so amazing, so Divine, 

Demands my soul, my life, my all." 

Will he certainly save us if we put our trust in him ? What 
penitent believer did he ever turn away ? " He would not 
have any to perish, but all to come to the knowledge of 
the truth." Do we want a Savior who is willing to save? 
Jesus is ever willing. Must he have the ofiicial charadler 
of a Savior? Christ is anointed to save. But do you say 
he must have power to save? 'I^he Lord is ^^ able to save 



SS^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



to the uttermost all that come to God by MmT Sinner, be- 
lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. 

III. The superiority of Faith over Sight. 

Numerous examples illustrating the truth of this prop- 
osition may be found in both the Old and New Testa- 
ment Scriptures. In fa6l, from that memorable occasion 
in the Garden of Eden, when Sight was first brought into 
antagonism with Faith, till the present time, the history 
of the world is but a succession of events attesting the 
superior excellence of Faith. Sight, when followed beyond 
its legitimate sphere, has ever led mankind astray. Its 
dazzling beauty, its splendid attire, and its fascinating 
charms are well calculated to captivate those who trust in 
appearances. But it is only necessary to examine the rec- 
ords of the past, and our own experience, to understand 
how deceitful is all this display, and how unworthy it is 
of our confidence. 

Not so of Faith. It offers no enchanting prospers in 
this life. Its promises here are self-denial, toil, struggle, 
sorrow, and disappointments; but its history is full of im- 
mortal heroes and glorious triumphs. After a while its 
work will be accomplished, and then those who "have 
kept the faith" will, with the Apostle Paul, receive a 
"crown of righteousness" which shall never fade away. 

But let us now consider wherein consists Faith's supe- 
riority. 

I . // has a more extended view than Sight. 

Whoever attempts to walk by Sight will not be long in 
finding out the shortness of his vision. He will find that 
life is full of labyrinths he can not thread, while every- 
where he will meet untold mysteries he can not explain. 



W. T. MOORE. 553 



Discouraged by his failures, and bewildered by the diffi- 
culties of his situation, he will very possibly despair of 
relief, and accept one of the inevitable alternatives of des- 
peration, viz.: dissipation, solitude, or suicide, either of 
which will unfit him for the land of the great hereafter. 

But the horizon of Faith is not so limited. The apos- 
tle's description will help us to understand its extent: 
''Faith is the foundation of things hoped for, the convic- 
tion of things not seen." (Heb. xi : i.) That is, it stands 
under all the future, and convinces of all the past. It 
is, therefore, master of the invisible world, and is to the 
spiritual world what Sight is to the material. With this 
wonderful telescope we can survey every step of human 
progress, and understand every path of human duty. 

2. Faith is more truthful than Sight. 

Things are not here what they seem to be. Deception 
lurks in the most inviting prospers. We see only the 
outside. We do not penetrate to the real essence. We are 
intoxicated with qualities, and show our aptness by com- 
pounding relations, but we only deceive ourselves, and de- 
monstrate that — 

*'This world is all a fleeting show. 

For man's illusion given ; 
The smiles of joy, the tears of woe 
Deceitful shine, deceitful flow. 

There 's nothing true but heaven." 

Sight takes cognizance of things as they appear; Faith 
sees them as they are. Sight sees that which is visible; 
Faith sees only the unseen. One deceives, and often leads 
astray; the other deals honestly with us, and tells us the 
truth. When was any one ever disappointed who walked 



554 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



by Faith ? You will search the records of the past in vain 
for a single example. On the contrary, however, you will 
find that the *' obedience of faith" has always been richly 
rewarded. I can refer to only a few instances. 

As the children of Israel journeyed from Mount Hor, 
by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom, 
they became much discouraged because of the way, and 
complained bitterly against God and Moses for having 
brought them out of the land of Egypt to die in the wil- 
derness. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among them, 
to punish them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. 
From the bite of these serpents, many of the people died. 
After which, those remaining confessed their sins, and be- 
sought Moses that he would pray the Lord to have the 
curse removed. The Lord instruded Moses to make a 
brazen serpent, and set it upon a pole, and said it should 
come to pass that every one who was bitten, when he 
looked upon it, should live. 

Could any thing have been more unphilosophical than 
this remedy? How unlike the materia medica of Sight ! 
Suppose some modern physician were to suggest such a 
remedy for the bite of serpents now, what, think you, our 
learned dodtors of medicine would say of him? Would 
they be likely to regard him as sane ? Not unless they 
should exercise more charity than they are in the habit of 
doing toward adventurers in their profession. But these 
Israelites were not to seek for the reason of the command; 
they were to walk by Faith — simply to look and live. When 
they had obeyed, were they disappointed ? No matter 
how unpromising the thing appeared, was not the Faith of 
every poor, suffering Israelite, who looked to the remedy 
instantly and amply rewarded ? 

The destruction of the walls of Jericho is another strik- 



W. T. MOORE. 555 



Ing illustration of the fidelity of Faith to her promises. 
•What if some modern Joshua should establish a school 
of military tadics in accordance with the programme of 
that siege .^ Does not the very thought excite a smile on 
the face of every war-worn veteran in all the land ? Nev- 
ertheless, when the Israelites had compassed the city, as 
commanded, their Faith met no disappointment — thewalls 
of the city fell 

3. Faith is more powerful than Sight. 

There is nothing, perhaps, in which we are so constantly 
cheated as in our estimate of power. We are accustomed 
to look for it in noise and great display; but nothing 
could be more unwise, for real power moves in silent 
courses. It is not in the thunder's deep, portentous 
roar, but in the lightning which sleeps in the storm-cloud. 
Sight is forever thundering in our ears its arrogant boasts, 
while it is only able to make display; but Faith goes on in 
silence^ and overcomes the world. 

It would be both a pleasant and profitable exercise to 
notice the many conditions in life where Faith manifests 
its superior power, but a few must suffice. 

The most self-sacrificing service, which God requires of 
us. Faith can make easy. Abraham offering up his son 
Isaac is a fine illustration of this. What could have more 
severely taxed Abraham's fidelity to God than the ad: 
he was required to perform ? It was paternal love and 
Faith in conflict; a struggle between a father's afFedlion for 
his son — his only son — and respeft for the commandment 
of God. Faith gained the vidory; and, on this account, 
Abraham is called the *' father of the faithful." 

Faith also enables us to endure the severest trials with- 
out murmuring. The Bible is full of splendid examples 



SS^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



illustrating the truth of this statement, and the history of 
the Church bears overwhelming testimony in its favor. 
With what eloquence does the long list of martyred saints 
speak on this subjedl! The names of such glorious heroes 
as John Huss, John Rogers, and William Tyndale, tell 
how true it is that faith in Christ is able to sustain us 
through the darkest hour of trial. 

Again : it is a glorious fa6l that, when we are exposed 
to the greatest dangers, Faith gives us courage, and lights 
up our pathway. During a storm at sea, a ship, which 
had for a long time breasted the fury of the waves, was, 
at last, apparently about to go down. All on board were 
in the wildest state of excitement, except one man, who 
remained perfectly composed, and seemingly indifferent to 
the danger which threatened him. His wife, noticing his 
calm demeanor, and not understanding the meaning of it, 
asked him how he could appear so resigned in the pres- 
ence of so great peril. He immediately drew a dagger, 
and presented it at her heart. Said he : " Are you not 
afraid of this dagger .^^^ ''No," she answered, as the tears 
streamed down her pale cheeks. "And why are you not 
afraid of it ?" he continued. " Because," said she, ''// is 
in the hands of my dear husband^ " Neither am I afraid 
of the storm," said he; ''''because it is in the hands of my 
heavenly Father, I know that he loves me^ and doeth all 
things welir This man walked by Faith, and Faith gave 
him perfed: resignation. " Though he slay me, yet will 
I trust him," is not the language of weak, hesitating, stam- 
mering Sight. 

Finally: Faith*s conflids, though they may seem doubt- 
ful for a time, never fail to end in vidory. How many 
sad and weary hearts, worn down by the long, long night 
of toil, are inspired with a new hope and new life by the 



W. T. MOORE. 557 



quickening rays of this blessed assurance! All along the 
lines of the struggling soldiers of the Cross, I see unmis- 
takable evidences of a forward movement, as they unitedly 
pronounce the cheering words of the apostle: "Thanks' 
be to God, who giveth us the vidory, through our Lord 
Jesus Christ." 

It is difficult to conceive how our heavenly Father could 
have given us more evidence than he has that Faith is 
stronger than Sight. We have seen that philosophy clearly 
suggests it; that history speaks but one voice on the sub- 
jed, and that the heroes of the Bible, to whom we have 
referred, exemplify it in their lives. "And what shall I 
more say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, 
and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae ; of David 
also, and Samuel, and of the prophets : who, through 
Faith, subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained 
promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the vio- 
lence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weak- 
ness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to 
flight the armies of the aliens." (Heb. xi : 32-35.) 

I feel that enough has been said to convince the most 
skeptical mind that only Faith is able to lead us to certain 
and glorious vi6lory. 

And now, in conclusion, let me urge upon you the im- 
portance of following the lead of Faith. The things of 
Sight can never bring happiness, though the world, with 
all its stores, were placed at your feet. The history of 
Solomon is re-enaded in the history of every man who 
seeks for happiness in the unsubstantial pleasures of this 
world: "All is vanity and vexation of spirit, and there 
is no profit under the sun." 

But, even allowing that there is a degree of real pleasure 
in pursuing the things of Sight, they can not remain with 



55^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



you long, for decay is written upon them all — all Is chang- 
ing, passing, fleeting — 

** The sweetest and dearest, alas! will not stay." 

Where are the companions of your youth ? " The 
fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live 
forever?" Look back upon the past. How many of life's 
fondest treasures lie buried there! How many cherished 
hopes and dazzling prospe6ls sleep within that tomb of 
ages ! When, O when, will the world understand the 
folly of trusting the things of Sight ! 

Dear brethren, let us heed the voice of heavenly wis- 
dom, and '^look not at the things which are seen, but at 
the things which are not seen : for the things which are 
seen are temporal ; but the things which are not seen are 
eternal." "Let us not be weary in well-doing," but toil 
on and suffer, if needs be, yet a little while; ''for in due 
season we shall reap if we faint not." 

**Soon shall close our earthly mission. 
Soon shall pass our pilgrim days; 
Hope shall change to glad fruition. 
Faith to Sight, and prayer to praise." 




^ 



^-^^/^ /^y /^-^/^ 



ALLEN RICHARDSON BENTON. 



A ILEN RICHARDSON BENTON was born in the town of Ira, 
-^^ Cayuga County, New York, Odlober i, 1822. Very early in life he 
had an ardent desire for learning, which was fully gratified by his parents 
until, from too much mental labor, his health failed, which made it neces- 
sary for him to give up his studies, and seek the restoration of physical 
strength in laboring on a farm. This was a severe stroke to his youthful 
ambition; but he submitted to it as gracefully as he could, with the hope 
that he would yet be able to complete his education. 

At the age of fifteen, under the preaching of Dr. S. E. Shepard and 
John M. Bartlett, he became a member of the Christian Church. 

At the age of twenty-one, having entirely recovered his health, the old 
desire for learning revived, and, after due preparation at the Fulton Acad- 
emy, New York, in the fall of 1845, he was matriculated in Bethany Col- 
lege. While at college, he was distinguished for close application to his 
studies, integrity of character, and a faithful discharge of all his obligations 
as a student and Christian. He was graduated Bachelor of Arts in July, 
1847, dividing the first honors of his class with Robert Graham, now 
Presiding Officer of the College of Arts in Kentucky University, he de- 
livering the Greek, and Graham the Latin salutatory. 

In the fall of 1848 he became permanently established as Principal of 
Fairview Academy, Rush County, Indiana, in which place he continued 
six years, during which time he succeeded in building up a highly pros- 
perous school. He was married, June 26, 1851, to Silence Howard, 
daughter of Dr. Howard, of Volney, New York. 

Having been elefted to the Professorship of Ancient Languages in North- 
western Christian University, he spent part of the year 1854 attending the 
Rochester University, New York, in the study of the Hebrew, under the 
instruftion of Dr. Conant. 

In the spring of 1855, he opened a preparatory school in the North- 
western Christian University buildings, and, in the fall of the same year, 
the college was opened. He continued in the discharge of the duties of 

(559) 



560 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



the Chair of Ancient Languages until the summer of 1861, when he was 
eledled President of the University, which position he still occupies. 

During all the time he has been engaged in teaching, as opportunity 
offered, he has done good service as a preacher of the Gospel, and has 
been, for several years, an efficient elder in the Church at Indianapolis. 

President Benton has a somewhat feeble physical organization, but pos- 
sesses a strong, vigorous, aftive intelleft. He is quick in his movements, 
and his mind is charadlerized by very sharp angles. He throws his whole 
soul into whatever he undertakes; and his career demonstrates that he is 
not deficient in executive talent and mental power. 



RETRIBUTION. 



BY A. R. BENTON. 



" For what a man soweth, that shall he also reap." — Gal. vi : 7. 

IN the formation of charader, and in the pradical con- 
cerns of life, it is of the highest importance to keep in 
mind the natural connexion between cause and effed — be- 
tween an adion and its consequences. That there is a nat- 
ural tie, which inevitably binds an a6l to its consequence, 
is a truth obvious in every department of nature. This, 
also, is the plain inculcation of our text — that whatever a 
man sows, that he also shall reap. 

According to the reasoning of the apostle, it is no more 
natural to gather a crop after the kind of seed sown, than to 
look for definite and invariable results in our moral hus- 
bandry. Whatever of certainty in results is incorporated 
into the physical economy of God, the same certainty is an 
invariable constituent of his moral system ; and it is as 
difficult to elude and baffle the latter as the former. 

It is a pleasing truth for our contemplation, that the 
Great Designer of all things has given, in his physical uni- 
verse, some intimations of what he is in his moral admin- 
istration — that the excellencies of a spiritual life may be 
refleded from the relationships of earth; and that material 
36 (561) 



562 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



things may become to us sacred hieroglyphics, by which 
to read the things that are spiritual. 

Upon this conception of the relation of the material 
to the spiritual, are the parables of the Savior founded. 
Like the tabernacle, which was made after the form of a 
heavenly pattern, so the earth, with all its forces and pro- 
cesses, is a copy and intimation of a higher state. Thus 
a harmonious and lasting unity runs through all the works 
of God, binding heaven and earth in one glorious universe 
— demonstrating the oneness of creative power, and the 
oneness of administration, by Him ''who filleth all in all." 

Nothing, perhaps, would deter more eiFedually from 
the commission of crime — nothing would restrain more 
vigorously the obliquities of human condudl, than a de- 
cided conviction that God's moral and spiritual laws are 
as imrnutable as his physical laws. No man, in contempt 
of the law of gravitation, plunges down a precipice; yet 
millions eagerly leap down all the steeps of sin into the 
very abyss of Tartarus and perdition. 

Is it because men prize less highly, or conserve less 
carefully, their spiritual concerns? By no means. It is 
because the consequences of vice, folly, or shameless wick- 
edness are not believed as being certain, and, by the con- 
stitution of nature, inevitable. Heaven and earth may 
pass away, but the word of God shall never pass away. 
His moral system will continue with its primal and peren- 
nial freshness, when the present physical order of things 
shall have undergone an entire change. 

It is not to be denied, that an impression is widely prev- 
alent, with resped: to the dissimilarity of God's moral and 
physical government. In the physical economy, his laws 
are admitted to be fixed and immutable; and no sane man 
expeds to evade the penalty of outraged law. " The thou- 



A. R. BENTON. 563 



sand Ills that flesh is heir to" are conceded to be the natu- 
ral sequences of personal or ancestral transgression. Tell 
a man that health and longevity depend invariably on the 
observance of laws in which there is no chance — no arbi- 
trary interference of some capricious power — and it will 
receive his unqualified assent. Tell him that every grati- 
fication of inordinate appetite — that intemperance and dis- 
soluteness will bring with them a train of ills fearful and 
indescribable, in the eclipsing of the flaming brilliancy of 
the mind, and in paralyzing and prostrating the powers of 
the body, and he can give it no denial. 

But, on the other hand, when you come to speak of the 
retributions which inexorably pursue the man who violates 
the laws of his moral being, you are met with distrust and 
chilling skepticism. In this department of God's universe, 
multitudes see nothing but chaos, disorder, and capricious 
chance. The hedic hue of health is upon the face of their 
pursuits and enjoyments, while the virus of death lurks 
in the vitals. In their vocabulary, there is no such phrase 
as the ''evil of sin." They have perturbations and dis- 
quietudes of mind, it is true, but these are charged to 
physical, rather than to moral causes. 

Because of this lurking and pervading distrust, a false 
and fatal indifi^erence to the moral quality of adions is 
painfully evident in the pleasures and pursuits of life. 

In our daily experience we have a proof of God's in- 
tolerance of sin, and an incontestible evidence that he will 
not allow it to go unpunished. 

If his displeasure at sin was as transient as our concern; 
if his estimate of its guilt as small as our sense of danger, 
why does he visit us all with death, to us the most certain 
and inexorable of all events ? This experience, unknown 
to sinless angrels, and one from which the whole sentient 



5^4 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



creation shrinks, is inflided with pitiless constancy on 
every child of Adam. 

If God regards the moral evil of the world with that 
complacency with which the world regards it, why such a 
hard dispensation to the children of men ? For death, 
with remorseless certainty, as a keen scytheman, cuts down 
the fair and blooming in all the successive generations of 
men. 

In the moanings of pain, in the tortures of remorseful 
despair, in the wild agonies of death, we have emphatic 
testimony that God hates moral evil, and will certainly 
punish it, if not abandoned with penitence. The sting of 
death is sin. It is, therefore, delusive to cherish the im- 
agination, that retribution for infradion of God's moral 
law is not certain. It is the most certain of all, for most 
of all is he incensed at the violation of his moral laws. 
The great central truth of God's moral government is, 
that he governs actively toward moral, and not physical 
ends ; and hence, every thing which conduces to this re- 
sult will especially please him, and not go unrewarded. 

As a Creator, God may be said to have physical plans 
and ends to reach ; but as a Father, which is the highest 
relation revealed to us, or conceivable by us, he has moral 
purposes to serve. And is it not reasonable to suppose 
that he will certainly smile with benignity upon such as 
ad in harmony with his moral purposes, and frown with 
indignant displeasure upon such as seek to subvert his 
moral order and designs ? 

That the evil of sin, and the certainty of its punish- 
ment, may stand out more vividly before the mind, we 
pass from these general considerations to more minuteness 
of specification. 

I. And first, with resped to the evil of sin. It is, with- 



A. R. BENTON. §6^ 



out doubt, true that the tone of general literature is In 
palliation of the turpitude of sin. Its sharp, harsh out- 
lines of offense are softened down by the euphemisms of 
a skeptical imagination. Again, it is often looked upon 
as a theological subtlety of professional interest, and a 
subjedl for cloister meditation; while, by others, its exist- 
ence may not be denied, it is regarded as something born 
with a man, a kind of moral taint, that no moral disinfed- 
ant can wholly remove — a transmitted virus that corrupts 
and poisons all with which if comes in contad. 

In the Bible, the nature of sin, and the magnitude of 
its evil, receives no such complacent handling. It is rep- 
resented as the sting of death — that it can kill the soul, 
and inflid unrespited torment forever. All voluntary 
wrong-doing is sin. It is to resist our sense of right, to 
negled acknowledged duty, or to disregard the laws of 
justice, integrity, and benevolence toward men, or, in the 
highest sense, to fail in our duties to God. 

The Scriptures are full and explicit in affirming that all 
pains, afflidlions, and losses are light matters compared 
with the guilt of voluntary wrong-doing; that to lose a 
right eye or right hand would be preferable far to a stain 
upon the soul, which may tarnish its beauty forever. This 
uniform testimony of Scripture is in perfect accord with 
human reason and experience. Take a man who has never 
occupied himself with the study of questions of morality 
and religion, and set before him the case of a man who 
has become rich by extortion and fraud ; and the example 
of another, who has carefully abstained from these, and, 
in the discharge of acknowledged duty, has borne great 
suffering. Will he not decide that the latter has made a 
wise choice? The admiration of our souls for what is 
disinterested and heroic in human condu6l, is proof of the 



566 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



excellence of virtue and the unnaturalness of sin. In our 
personal experience, those things which sting with the 
keenest pang are the occurrences in which, so to speak, we 
gained the world, but lost our soul ; in which temptation 
triumphed over our moral principles, or in which selfish- 
ness or passion degraded us below our proper level. 

There is no sting so sharp as remorse; no loss like the 
loss of innocence; no crimson so deep as that of shame, 
in view of remembered follies and vices. This is the 
voice, not of a single man, nor of a single age, but it is 
the universal sentiment of humanity. The Furies, brand- 
ishing in one hand the torch of vengeance, and in the 
other a scourge of writhing, wriggling vipers, and bearing 
aloft a Gorgon's head, that could turn every beholder into 
stone, are terrific representations of the heinous nature of 
moral evil, as revealed in the universal consciousness of 
men. But the culmination of this evil will not be real- 
ized in the present life; but, like the envenomed robe of 
Nessus, will cling with burning and consuming potency 
to the blackened and charred soul forever. 

There is a kind of parchment, on which the charaders, 
faded by time, are so perfedly restored by chemical re- 
agents as to reveal, after the lapse of centuries, the secrets 
and forgotten lore committed to it. Such a parchment is 
the human soul, on which will be restored, in lines of 
ineffaceable light, the desires and the deeds of the unre- 
membered past. The continuity of our being will not 
be interrupted by death. '' Dust to dust'' was not spoken 
of the soul. As our lives to-day are the resultant of past 
affedlions, aspirations, and pursuits, so our charader be- 
yond the stream of death will be the produd of the influ- 
ences that control us from day to day. Though we may 
be blind now to the turpitude of moral evil, through the 



A. R. BENTON. 567 



fascinations of pleasure, or the anxious cares of adive life, 
in that day, if given up to a sinful life, we shall feel with 
Milton's Satan, that '* whichever way I turn is hell — my- 
self am hell." 

II. In the next place, we consider the certainty of God's 
retributive justice. The nature of moral evil lays the 
foundation for such justice. God's nature is the founda- 
tion of its certainty. This certainty is affirmed with the 
positiveness of dogmatism in our text. ''Whatsoever a 
man sows, that shall he also reap." It is not hypothetical 
or uncertain. He shall reap : not as a mere predidion, but 
as of positive appointment. To many, no doubt, this in- 
flexible certainty of sequence seems a hard and stern decree. 
Like the man who had received but one talent, they com- 
plain of God as an austere Master, who reaps where he has 
not sown. It is obvious that our complaining does not 
and can not alter God's plans; but it will be our highest 
wisdom to learn his plans, and to conform to them. 

Even if one should be unable to explain them, or con- 
strue them satisfactorily to his mind, this will absolve 
him in no measure from the penalty incurred by violating 
known law. Approve or disapprove as we may, of the 
sanctions which God has annexed to his laws, this will, in 
no resped, bias or change the Divine course. Go and work, 
and whatever is right I will give you, is the universal law 
underlying all his economies. From this his immutabil- 
ity can not allow him to swerve. 

In illustrating and enforcing the truth of the certain 
connecStion between our ads and their pre-ordained conse- 
quences, we shall appeal to matters that intimately concern 
the young, as youth is, in the order of nature, the period 
in which the seed is sown which will ripen with pestiferous 
fruit, or into a glorious harvest. 



568 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



I. In the first place, we invite attention to one of the 
lowest and least reprehensible forms of transgression — the 
mistakes of the young. 

If there were any cases in which we might reasonably 
exped that the rigor of law would be relaxed, surely we 
might exped some mitigation of penalty in the case of 
simple mistakes. But do we find such to be the case? 
Does even involuntary error lead to no pernicious result? 
Does ignorance snap the ligament that binds efFed to cause ? 
The answer is found in our own experience. 

How often do we find men in situations that they have 
a special unfitness for. In such conditions they labor on 
for years, without suspeding for a moment their inapti- 
tude for their calling. They blame their mischances, the 
infelicity of their conditions, while they are simply the 
vidims of their mistakes. They, perchance, mistake their 
turbulent pride, and enormous self-consciousness, for the 
measure of their pradical force; and hence are arrogant 
in all their demands on society. Inordinately desiring a 
life of ease and elegance, and believing themselves, by 
birth or culture, fitted to shine in the highest positions, 
with singular pertinacity they claim for themselves the 
special consideration of the world. This great mistake 
with regard to what the world owes or will accord, paves 
the way to their ultimate ruin. The common callings of 
life, in which downright, earnest work is demanded, are 
shunned, and without aptitude or ability for those posi- 
tions which they seek, they fall peevishly into a driveling 
mediocrity. 

There is a law of adaptation in the affairs of life which 
we may not violate with impunity. While something in 
our failures may be charged to circumstances, and to the 
infelicities of our lot, still this great organic law, Adap- 



A. R. BENTON. sh 



tatlon, is the main operative principle that controls our 
fortune; and no plea of mistake will undo the mischief 
which inevitably follows the infradion of this law. 

2. In the next place, indolence and disregard of the op- 
portunities of life are visited with certain punishment. 
For a time these things may sit easily, and life may glide 
along jauntily; but in the end their results will sting like 
adders, realizing to the transgressor that whatsoever he 
sows, tkaS, and nothing else, shall he reap. There are a 
great many in this world, of whom more might have been 
made; but all their vain regrets over what might have 
been will be unavailing to bring back the negleded past, 
or squandered opportunities. If a young person makes a 
mistake here, no degree of industry in after life will fully 
retrieve the losses of the past ; and painful losses they will 
remain forever. 

Am I asked what are the special inflidions visited upon 
this easy and sedudive vice? They are poverty, beggary, 
loss of self-resped and public esteem. Should I place be- 
fore you two classes of circumstances, one of ease, afflu- 
ence, and indolence, the other of hardship and the reward 
of persistent toil, most, I presume, would choose the 
former. 

One comes into life the expedant heir of countless ad- 
vantages. He has no want unsupplied or unanticipated. 
He walks the easy path of indolence — the petted, the 
indulged, and, generally, the spoiled child of mistaken 
parental love. This bleached, etiolated scion of doting 
parents, harboring all the selfishnesses and meannesses of 
an unoccupied life, is fitted, by the lessons of indolence, 
for all covert or public transgression of law. 

The other is born, perhaps, under the dispensation of 
rags. From early life he falls into ^he eddies of society, 



57^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



and is thrown from one side to another — sunk at one time, 
then coming to the surface; and, with fearlessness and for- 
titude, at last begins to get hold on li e, and, in the words 
of Emerson, he ''teams it, farms it, peddles, keeps school, 
edits a newspaper, goes to Congress, buys a township," and 
so forth. This discipline develops something better than 
wealth or position. It develops manhood, and, by its at- 
tritions, polishes the jewels of charafter until they shine 
with splendid luster. 

Given these circumstances and careers from which to 
choose, would not many young persons choose the life of 
indolence and magnificent worthlessness? We need not 
now stop to trace indolence through all its labyrinths of 
dishonesty — to which it most surely leads — its swindlings, 
its forgeries, thievings, and the sensual indulgences which 
fill up the interstices between these crimes. 

3. In the third place, there is certain retribution con- 
sequent upon the dissipation of life. One of the most 
alarming exhibitions of unbridled desires, is that pursuit 
of pleasure called, with great significance, dissipation. This 
is a species of self-gratification that assumes Protean forms 
— the idol of modern society, and the constant pursuit of 
restless and unoccupied minds. Such persons, in constant 
pursuit of some new titillations of pleasure, seek to drown 
their time, thoughts, and restiveness in the whirl of end- 
less dissipation. They stand along the high road of life 
as sad examples of self-anarchy and internal misrule. 

These ''wild oats" of dissipation may be sown — thou- 
sands do sow them — but the reaping will be according to 
the sowing. Not more certainly will the husbandman reap 
tares when tares are sown, than will he reap shame and dis- 
appointment who makes pleasure his pursuit in life. All 
the steps taken on this road must be retraced with pain- 



A. R. BENTON. 571 



fulness and cross-bearing, if ever safety or happiness in 
this life be found. 

Were I to specify with particularity those forms of dis- 
sipation most hurtful to the moral welfare of the young, 
I should mention the saloon, the theater, the gambling 
hell, and the haunts of sensuality to which modesty denies 
a name. Of some of these, it may be said, that their gross- 
ness is so great, that none but the most hardened in de- 
pravity are reckoned among their votaries; while the the- 
ater may be a source of rational" and innocent satisfadion. 
It is often asked, with an air of conscious triumph, what 
specific law of morals is violated by attending the theater? 
It may be true that it has been refined from the excesses 
of intemperance, from the execrations of profanity, and 
the jeers of infidelity, and yet be practically pernicious 
to moral culture. Then comes the graveling question: 
What mysterious harm in frequenting such a place as this ? 
It is a fallacy to suppose that no substantial objedlions 
may exist against a pradice which infradts no specific com- 
mand. 

A man might be unwell, and the physician be unable to 
give a specific name to his complaint. So with the scenic 
representations of the stage. The ailing is general ; and 
even if unable to impeach them for specific guilt, they are 
to be condemned for their complicities and general results. 
In the words of an apostle, ''An idol may be nothings and 
the meats oflFered to it may be nothing^'' and still it may 
be unlawful in morals to visit its temple, or to sit at its 
table. 

It is, no doubt, well that the Christian religion gives 
no dogmatic utterances on points like this; but that it 
aims to supersede the luxury, the license, and the giggling 
folly of such entertainments by new tastes, new affedions, 



57^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



and a nobler manhood. The new wine of tastes and prin- 
ciples must be put into new bottles, if both are to be pre- 
served. 

"Rejoice, then, young man, in the days of thy youth! 
But knoWy that for all these things God will bring you into 
judgment." 

4. There is also certain retribution for the dishonesties of 
life. There is, in our time, not only a tolerance, but there 
are even encomiums upon some of the dishonesties of men. 
The moral significance of deeds is changed, and what was 
formerly, and in truth, esteemed a vice, is now canonized 
as a virtue. This is the involuntary homage that men are 
compelled to pay to virtue. If rascality is called tad or 
business sagacity, it is because men wish to give a cred- 
itable account of themselves ; if mendacity, in all its forms, 
is called a prudent defense against the impe»-tinence or 
overreaching of others, it is because they wish to gloss 
over the repulsiveness of lying. The danger of dishon- 
esty comes not in some hideous, colossal form, but often 
attenuated and gay, rallying the fears or piquing the pride, 
until, admitted to the hospitality of human hearts, it sud- 
denly swells into gigantic proportions, and with its Gorgon 
head of horror, aifrights every impotent struggle to exor- 
cise the demon. Then honor, integrity, and purity perish; 
and, with these, all is gone but the stinging disappoint- 
ment, the useless remorse. Instead of the anticipated 
harvest of resped, and honor, and life eternal, there is 
the fruit of tyrannous and insatiable desires, which will 
constitute forever a man his own tormentor. 

Among our own countrymen, I know no more melan- 
choly example of warning to aspiring young men, that they 
beware of the dishonesties of life, than that of Aaron Burr. 
Sprung from a noble ancestry, and bearing an honored 



A. R. BENTON. . 573 



name: endowedwith a mental tad and brilliancy thatecllpsed 
all competitors; of speech as fluent and fascinating as that 
which angels use; of ambition towering as Lucifer's; of an 
iron will that bent all, even bodily infirmity, to its own im- 
periousness, he was fitted, by nature and liberal education, 
to become a blessing to his race. But, losing his hold of 
moral and religious principles, which had shed their hal- 
lowed and sweetening influences on his early life, he fell 
from bad to worse, until, in his infinite progression toward 
evil, he conspired to dismember his country, was exposed 
in his wicked career, and is now gibbeted by the execra- 
tions of his countrymen. 

Thus it ever will be, that it may be known how God 
watches the flow of our daily life, its honesties and dis- 
honesties, asserting his approbation of the one, and his 
condemnation of the other. 

5. In the last place, consider the application which the 
apostle himself makes of this dodrine of retribution. 
"He that sows to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap cor- 
ruption; he that sows to the spirit, shall of the spirit 
reap life everlasting." 

No labor is expended to prove that it is wrong to sow 
to the flesh, or that it is right to sow to the spirit. He 
aflirms a universal truth, with its certainty and momentous 
import, and leaves it for us to apply. That it is always 
criminal to sow to the flesh is clear; but in this connec- 
tion the apostle endeavors to enforce the evanescent and 
perishable nature of its objeds. 

The whole round of pursuits, tastes, and affedions of 
mankind are generalized by the two words, flesh and spirit. 
The former are temporal and evanescent; the latter are 
commensurate with the life of God — they are eternal. 

What, then, is the boundary-line that separates the spirit 



574 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



from the flesh? Is it that by which the dissipations or 
dishonesties of life are separated from its decencies and 
uprightness? Is it that by which the man labeled all 
over with uncanceled wickedness is separated from the 
genteel and affable? 

There is no need for one to possess Satanic eminence 
in moral turpitude in order to define his spiritual status. 
The jurisprudence of heaven requires no such glaring con- 
trasts to fix the characfler or destiny of men. It is possi- 
ble to belong to the category of the flesh without any of 
the forms of gross delinquency. We might conceive of a 
man possessing a lively relish for the amenities of social life ; 
of public spirit and adivity; of keen relish for the sensu- 
ous beauties which have been spread with lavish prodigal- 
ity on the face of nature, and yet, with all these, he may 
be on the side of the flesh. In his tendencies, habits, and 
practical concerns, he may be altogether carnal. God may 
not be in any of his thoughts. Like Mammon, "v^Vose 
looks were always downward bent," the earth may c.Uim 
all his afledions, and be the theater of all his aspirat'<)ns 
and all his hopes. Far better would it be to be destit^ite 
of worldly schemes and ambitions than to be destitute of 
religious aifedlions and a sensibility for spiritual things. 
The flesh and corruption; the spirit and life eternal. 1 he 
choice is ours. The ample apartments of the soul may l^e- 
come dismal and dreary from sheer emptiness of this spir- 
itual furnishing, or they may become bright and refulgent 
by the garnishing of spiritual inclinations and holy afl^Q- 
tions. May no treacherous delusions or errant philosophy 
beguile us from the simplicity of this truth, that ''What- 
ever a man sows, that shall he reap;" and may God gra- 
ciously grant, that we may sow to the Spirit, and bring us 
at last to partake the felicities of everlasting life. 




I 



^Z/i.-^^ /^l^^ 



11 r/z--- 



V 



K ."W. CarrolL & C'i i-uilisiier; ,'Ciiiciiuia.i_ 



JOSEPH KING. 



JOSEPH KING was born in Kinsman, Trumbull County, Ohio, July 9, 
1 83 1. At seven years of age he was left an orphan, and was thrown 
on the world entirely upon his own resources. This fa6t subjected him 
to many privations and severe trials; but his energies were correspondingly 
quickened, and the self-reliance and patience which have since charader- 
ized the man were developed and strengthened thus early by the struggles 
of the boy. The money he expended in acquiring an education was earned 
by his own efforts : first, by manual labor on a farm, and, afterward, by 
teaching. No one helped him to a dollar. 

He began the study of English grammar^ and, indeed, all the common 
branches of an education, after he entered his eighteenth year, and grad- 
uated, with distinguished honor, at Bethany College, in 1855. 

His early religious training was thoroughly Presbyterian, and he had no 
accurate knowledge of the Disciples, or of their views, till he was twenty 
years of age. When in his twenty-first year, after going through a long 
and terrible ordeal in seeking the way of salvation, he was brought to see 
and understand the truth, and was immersed, in Mahoning County, Ohio, 
in 1852. 

After graduating at college, his first year in the ministry was spent at 
Warren, Ohio; the next three years were spent in the State of New 
York, in connexion with the Williamsville Classical Institute. He was 
afterward pastor of the Church in New Lisbon, Ohio, four years; he then 
removed to Alleghany City, Pennsylvania, and took charge of the Church 
in that place, where he has been for nearly five years, and which is his 
present field of labor. 

Brother King is of medium stature, and very slight, but has shown him- 
self capable of a large amount of hard work. He has brown hair, gray 
eyes, and weighs one hundred and twenty-five pounds. His physiognomy 
marks him as a man of equable temper, large benevolence, but very de- 
cided and firm in reference to all his plans of life. 

His preaching is chiefly pradlical, and his discourses are generally char- 

(575; 



57^ THE LIVING PULPIT. 



aderized by much that appeals direftly to the conscience. He has very 
little imagination, and is not, in the popular sense, an orator, but his suc- 
cess in the ministry demonstrates that he wields an influence more potent 
than that which belongs, to the most gifted speakers. Every-where he 
has labored, the Divine blessing has attended his preaching, and he is now 
doing a work in Alleghany City which is worthy to be recorded as among 
the most splendid successes that have crowned the pastoral labors of the 
ministry. 



THE JUDGMENT TO COME. 



BY JOSEPH KING. 



"And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it 
is he who has been ordained of God to be Judge of the living and dead." — 
Acts x : 42. 

THESE words were spoken by the Apostle Peter, in 
the house of Cornelius, at the opening of the Gos- 
pel dispensation to the Gentiles. Peter was preaching, 
declaring the testimony of God, and, after affirming the 
resurreftion of Christ, saying: "Him God raised up on 
the third day, and showed him openly, not to all the peo- 
ple, but to witnesses chosen before of God, even to us 
who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead; " 
he also affirms, saying: "He commanded us to preach 
to the people, and to testify that it is he who has been 
ordained of God to be judge of the living and dead." 

The apostles profoundly respected the authority of 
Christ. They obeyed his commands. They faithfully 
executed his will. They were his ambassadors, his pleni- 
potentiaries, clothed with full power to treat with offend- 
ing man, and make known the terms of reconciliation with 
an offended God. The text informs us that the apostles 
were commanded to do two things : First, to preach to 
the people. In preaching, they were subjedl to the will 
37 iS77:i 



57 8 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



of Christ. They preached, not to gratify their own ambi- 
tion, or because the work of preaching was light and irre- 
sponsible, but because the obligation to preach was upon 
them. All authority in heaven and on earth had been 
given to Jesus. By that authority he commanded them, 
saying: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel 
to every creature." There is the obligation imposed — 
the duty solemnly enjoined. How deeply did Paul feel 
in reference to the work given him to do ! And, no doubt, 
all the apostles felt as did he. "Though I preach the 
Gospel, 1 have nothing to boast of: for necessity is laid 
upon me; yea, woe is to me if I preach not the Gospel." 
(i Cor. ix: i6.) 

Secondly, they were commanded to "testify that Jesus 
had been ordained of God to be the Judge of the living 
and dead." The word "testify" scarcely does justice to 
the original. The word means, in the Greek tongue, to 
make solemn, public affirmation; to declare earnestly; to 
urge and enforce, under a deep sense of the truth and im- 
portance of what you say. Hence, the Judgeship of Christ 
was a capital item in the apostolic testimony. The apos- 
tles were commanded to proclaim to "all men every-where " 
that Christ is to return to judge the world in righteous- 
ness. Jesus is not only " Lord of all ;" he is Judge of all, 
and to him every knee must bow, and every tongue con- 
fess. He is King, Lord, and Judge. His Lordship and 
Judgeship grow out of his offices as King. As " King of 
kings, and Lord of lords," he proclaims the law of par- 
don, governs the Church, rules over his people, and is 
also the Lord of providence. All things are in his hands. 
As King he is to judge the world. 

I ask your attention, therefore, to this subjed, growing 
immediately out of Christ's coronation and investiture 



JOSEPH KING. 579 



with supreme authority, viz., his advent to judgment — his 
coming to reckon with every man, and ''pronounce the 
sentence of eternal woe or bliss." 

Your attention is invited to the following points: 

I. The certainty of a Future Judgment. 

II. The Judge. 

III. The persons Judged. 

IV. That for which we are to be Judged. 

I. Beloved hearers, listen while I speak to you. Let 
me ask: Do you believe in a future and eternal judgment ? 
Do you believe th.3.t you are to stand before God, to give 
"account to him who is ready to judge the living and the 
dead?" Do you really accept it as a truth of Divine rev- 
elation, that Christ will come to reckon with you; to make 
solemn inquiry as to the improvement you have made of 
the talents given you; as to what you have thought, and 
said, and done during this life; and that the ''hidden 
things of darkness will be brought to light, and the coun- 
sels of every heart made manifest?" 

Do you believe this to be a part of God's great reve- 
lation ? O, I say to you, men need to believe it: but 
multitudes do not; and, because they do not, they are 
going down to a fearful end. Let us inquire, then, will 
there be a future judgment? To this question there can 
be but one answer. There certainly will be. An approach- 
ing judgment is certain. And I proceed to establish the 
certainty of it. 

I. In the first place, let us examine the "book of con- 
science." Man's mental and moral constitution furnishes 
evidenceof the judgment of God. The sentence — God will 
judge man — is written on every man's heart. Let us 
search the records within. Everv one has evidence — evi- 



580 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



dence quite satisfadlory, too, if he but take the pains to 
examine it — in his own soul, in the constitution of his 
moral nature — that God will sit in judgment upon him. 
To illustrate: Suppose you do right; suppose you pursue 
a right course of condud, such a course as is in harmony 
with the word of God and the principles of eternal redi- 
tude, there is that within which approves your condudl — 
in other words, you have the testimony of a good con- 
science. On the other hand, suppose you do wrong; you 
sin; ad: contrary to that which you know to be right; do 
those things which you ought not to do, or leave undone 
those things which you ought to do, there is that within 
which disapproves your condud; there is inward pain, 
mental uneasiness, and a consciousness of unhappiness 
arising from wrong-doing. You have done wrong, and 
you know it, and feel it. Now, what is that which ap- 
proves the one course of life, and disapproves the other? 
It is conscience, or the moral sense. It is what the 
Apostle Paul calls the ''law written in the heart;" /. ^., 
in the hearts of the Gentiles, those who had not a written 
revelation of God's will. And, as the guide-board points 
out to the traveler the way he must go to reach the de- 
sired place, so conscience, rightly interpreted, points, with 
unerring certainty, to the ''righteous judgment of God.' 
It is God's law in the soul, "written in the heart," testi- 
fying in favor of truth, and justice, and righteousness, 
and against sin, and wrong, and disobedience. (Rom. ii: 
12-16.) And in the first and second chapters of the letter 
to the Church at Rome, the apostle clearly shows that con- 
science and the works of creation — ^'the things that are 
made " — furnish such a plain revelation of at least some 
of the attributes of the Supreme Being, that the others 
are left "without excuse." And of them he writes: 



JOSEPH KING. 581 



''Who," (without the Bible,) ''knowing t\\^ judgment of 
God^ that they who commit such things are worthy of 
death; not only do the same, but have pleasure in them 
that do them." (Rom. i: 32.) 

2. The justice of God requires that there be a day of 
judgment. Justice is not here meted out to every one. 
Injustice abounds in this world, and God, for wise rea- 
sons, permits it. In every civilized country there are what 
are called " courts of justice." All men will not, of their 
own accord, ac5t justly. Hefice, courts are organized for 
the one purpose of seeing that justice shall be done be- 
tween man and man. And yet, it can not be truthfully 
said that, in a single court, from that held by a countrv 
squire, or a village mayor, up to the Supreme Court of 
the United States, justice is always and absolutely done. 
A man may have injustice done him in, and by what is 
called a court of justice. Indeed, the fad is notorious 
that fraud and injustice are often perpetrated by those who 
are themselves set to administer justice. All over this 
world the innocent are oppressed, the just are treated un- 
justly. 

The wicked are generally in great power; the righteous 
poor are trampled upon and kept down. And, during the 
ages that have passed away, how many of God's chosen 
and just ones have been persecuted, maltreated, injured 
in their person and property, oppressed, bound to the 
stake, and their life violently taken? and yet God, the 
infinitely just One, suffered their persecutors to live, and 
did not come forth openly to vindicate the cause of his 
suffering and oppressed people. How often is it the case 
that great criminals go unpunished in this world? Every- 
where the laws of God and the principles of justice are 
disregarded — iniquity, transgression, and crime run riot. 



582 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Is there a just God in heaven? Will the "Judge of 
all the earth do right?" If so, things being as they are in 
this world — injustice abounding, and justice mocked and 
trampled under foot in ten thousand instances; if God be 
just, (and who can doubt it?) if justice and judgment are 
the habitation of his throne, then there will come a day — 
there must come a day — when God will come forth as Sov- 
ereign, and openly, publicly, visibly, in the presence of 
all his accountable creatures, punish sin, reward righteous- 
ness; search out sins secret and concealed from the knowl- 
edge of men ; make solemn investigation into the charac- 
ter of every one; examine his life; scan his purposes; 
scrutinize his heart; explore the deep recesses of his be- 
ing; penetrate behind the vail of that which is outward; 
and, having weighed, examined, sifted, searched, scruti- 
nized, exposed, will do what infinite justice determines and 
says ought to be done. Such a judgment, fearful, search- 
ing, far-reaching, awaits every man. None will escape. 
It will come. It is certain as that you live and hear me 
speak. God's justice requires it. It will not suffer the 
guilty to escape. Before Felix, Paul "reasoned concerning 
righteousness, temperance (self-control), and the judgment 
to come." (Acts xxiv, xxv.) 

If Jefferson could say "I tremble for my country when 
I remember that God is just," every one may well tremble 
for himself when he remembers that God will sit in judg- 
ment upon him. 

3. Turning now from conscience and Divine justice, 
we ask. What says the Word of God ? What does God 
say in his Word concerning a future judgment? Not 
turning just now to the Old Testament for a single pas- 
sage — for space will permit me to quote but a few — I cite 
the words of our Divine Lord in Matt, x: 15: "Verily, 



JOSEPH KING. 583 



I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of 
Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment^ than for that 
city." Our Savior often speaks of the day of judgment. I 
need not multiply quotations. (See Matt, xi: 22-24; 
xii: 36-42.) Would Jesus unequivocally speak of that 
which is never to be? Nay; there is, therefore, to be a 
day of judgment; and sins committed thousands of years 
since, if not forgiven, will be had in remembrance in that 
day. It will be a day of wondrous revelations. 

The Apostle Paul, in his discourse to the Athenian phi- 
losophers, as you will see recorded in Acts xvii: 30, 31: 
says , ' ' God now commands all men every-where to repent : 
because he appointed a day in which he will judge the 
world in righteousness by the man (Christ Jesus) whom 
he ordained" — appointed to be Judge of all m.en. And 
the proof of Christ's having all judgment committed to 
him is his resurre6lion from the dead. God, therefore, 
has appointed a day; i. e., he has fixed a time — a set time 
— a time that will be given up to the solemn work of judg- 
ing men, and determining the destiny of each one. Noth- 
ing else will then absorb the mind of either the Judge or 
the judged. Now, Christ is governing the universe, ad- 
ministering the affairs of his vast empire, and interceding 
for his people; but there draws near a time when he will 
come, with "his mighty angels, in flaming fire," and, lay- 
ing aside other things, will devote the necessary length of 
time to one thing — judging "the world in righteousness." 
When he comes, "every eye shall see him, even they who 
pierced him: and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail 
because of him." (Rev. i: 7.) Gloom and dismay will 
overspread the world; horror and anguish will seize men. 
"And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the 
rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and 



584 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



every bondman, and every freeman, will hide themselves 
in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and will say 
to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from 
the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath 
of the Lamb : for the great day of his wrath is come, and. 
who shall be able to stand?" (Rev. vi: 15-17.) 

This day is approaching, and no power of man or angel 
can prevent its approach. Men may laugh, treat the mat- 
ter with ridicule, and ^'^make light of it;" they may say: 
"Peace and safety;" "Where is the promise of his com- 
ing?" and "Away with your notions about a future judg- 
ment and the conflagration of the world;" but "sudden 
destru6lion will come upon them, and they shall not es- 
cape." The antediluvians mocked Noah, a preacher of 
righteousness, and treated his solemn warnings with indif- 
ference; yet the "flood came and swept them all away." 
So will it be with all the ungodly in the great day of final 
reckoning. 

O, beloved, write it upon the tablet of your heart; re- 
ceive the solemn truth; and, from this hour, pradically 
believe that you are to appear before the Judge of all the 
earth, to receive according to the deeds done in the body. 

In proof of a future judgment, many other passages 
might be quoted; but it is not necessary. (Rev. xx: 12, 
13.) " In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every 
word be established." John, Paul, and, above all, our 
Savior himself, assert the fad of a "day of judgment." 

II. The Judge. 

This is our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Judge of the 
living and the dead. "The Father judges no one; but has 
committed all judgment to the Son; that all should honor 
the Son, as they honor the Father. He that honors not the 



JOSEPH KING. 585 



Son, honors not the Father who sent him/' (John v: 22, 
23.) All judicial authority has been given to Christ; and 
the Father's purpose, in giving him such authority, is that 
his Son may be honored equally with himself. Christ is to 
receive equal adoration with God; and, wearing our nature 
as well as the Divine, he is thus an ** impartial Judge," 

III. Who are to be Judged? 

We pass to consider the subjeds of the Divine judgment. 

1. Fallen Angels. There has been sin in heaven among 
the angels as well as on earth ; and as angels are account- 
able beings — subjeds of moral government — and as ''^ all 
judgment" has been given to the Son, the fallen angels 
will be judged by the Son of God. (2 Pet. ii: 4; also 
Jude 6.) 

2. All men will he judged. Not one will escape the right- 
eous judgment of God. '' All who, at Christ's coming, 
shall be living, or shall ever have lived." The judgment 
will be universal, embracing not only one tongue or kin- 
dred, but all tongues and kindreds of men. The beggar 
and the millionaire; the king on his throne, and the hum- 
blest of his subjeds; the prince and the peasant; the mas- 
ter and the servant; the old and the young; the judge on 
the bench, and the prisoner at the bar : all men standing 
now on the same level, robbed of every earthly distinc- 
tion ; their former position and supposed greatness lost 
sight of, and with nothing but the character they formed 
during life, are to stand before the omniscient, omnipo- 
tent Judge of all. '^ We must all appear before the judg 
ment-seat of Christ ; that every one may receive the things 
done in the body, according to what he has done, whether 
it be good or evil." (2 Cor. v: 10.) "Every one of us 
shall give account of himself to God." (Rom. xiv: 12.) 



586 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



Professors of religion sometimes say: "Why, we are 
not to be judged, are we? Are we not Christians ? Are 
we not members of Christ's body? Have we not been 
forgiven? Are not the promises ours? Will Christ 
judge usV I answer: Yes. Yes, jy^^ will be judged. 
There lives not a man who will escape the final judgment. 
Not one — not one. Does not the apostle say : '' The Lord 
will judge his people.'' And, in reference to this very 
judgment to be passed upon the Lord's people, Paul says: 
" It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living 
God." Fearful, because the Judge is omnipotent ; fear- 
ful, because he is the searcher of every heart ; fearful, be- 
cause many who are expelling to be acquitted will be con- 
demned; fearful, because the Judge has power "to destroy 
both soul and body in hell." Well may we tremble, in 
view of that day; and thousands will tremble then who 
never trembled before. Like Belshazzar, they will turn 
pale; their knees will smite one against another, and hor- 
ror and anguish will seize them. O, may we be prepared 
for that great day — day of God Almighty ! 

The question is sometimes asked, Whether the sins of 
God's people will be published in the day of judgment. 
This is one of those "secret things that belong to the 
Lord our God." It is certain their sins will not be al- 
leged against them to their condemnation ; nevertheless, "the 
Lord will judge his people." 

IV. For what are we to be Judged ? 

I. For our works, our deeds, condud, adlions. All the 
deeds of your life will be subjed-matter of inquiry and 
judicial investigation in the day of final retribution. Not 
some ad:ions, not some deeds — but every adlion, every 
deed of every man. Nothing will be left out of tl e ac- 



JOSEPH KING. 587 



count. The Judge will take cognizance of every a6t. He 
is Omniscient. His knowledge of your whole life, and of 
every thing you do, during life's continuance, is perfedl. 
No a^, no deed will escape his notice. 

I have observed that business men, in making out their 
bills, to distribute for colledlion, are careful to specify 
every item purchased. They forget nothing. Of this, 
so much, at so much per unit of measurement. Of that, 
so much, at so much per unit of measurement; and so 
on, to the end. And often you forget that you bought 
so much ; and when the bill is presented to you for pay- 
ment, you are surprised to find it so large, and are dis- 
posed to dispute its correftness ; but the books show it. 
Here it is — the date and the full, account in order. 

Now, God keeps a strid account of all we do. He 
forgets nothing. All is written in the book of his re- 
membrance. You sin, but you soon forget that you 
sinned. You drive a hard bargain. You cheat some ig- 
norant one in dealing with him; you falsify for base gain; 
you give way to passion, and become sinfully angry; or 
you yield to the power of appetite, and drink that which 
intoxicates. These '* little sins," as you call them, are soon 
forgotten, (you do not retain them in mind long enough 
to repent of them;) and you flatter yourself you are liv- 
ing a consistent life. Thus life passes on. The day of 
judgment comes. '*The books are opened." And here, 
in God's great Book of remembrance, is the record of 
your whole life. Every adion is therein recorded, and 
*' every work God will bring into judgment." 

2. But the Divine judgment will extend farther, and 
reach deeper, than a£lions. For their words men are to be 
judged. The Judge says: "Verily, I say to you, that 
every idle world that men shall speak, they shall give ac- 



588 THE LIVING PULPIT. 



count thereof in the day of judgment/* (Matt, xli: 2^-) 
Solemn,, startling revelation! ''A man's words are the 
evidence on which he is to be tried before God." His 
speech — the words that proceed out of his mouth — are an 
indication of the true principles of his heart. By words 
the heart is made known, as the tree by its fruit. (Matt, 
xii: 34.) 

Reader, do you believe this? Do you believe that your 
words are recorded in God's great Book, and that they will 
be brought up for judicial investigation in the final day? 
Take heed to your speech. Restrain your tongue from 
evil. Pray that God would set a watch upon your lips. 

3. But the Divine judgment goes still farther and 
deeper than "every work," and "every idle word." Your 
secret thoughts and purposes; your hidden life — which is 
every one's true life — must pass the scrutiny of the om- 
niscient Judge. Hear the word of God: " Let us hear the 
conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his 
commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." And 
what is the reason assigned ? The fear of God, and obe- 
dience to his commandments, are urged by the most pow- 
erful reason. " For every work God will bring into judg- 
ment, together with every secret things whether it be good 
or evil." (Eccl. xii: 13, 14.) Every secret thing! Every 
secret thing, both good and evil! "God will judge the 
SECRETS of men {ra xpoizra tojv dvdpconcou) by Jesus Christ, 
according to the Gospel." (Rom. ii:i6.) God will "bring 
to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make mani- 
fest the counsels of every heart." The heart makes man 
what he is, and determines his chara6ter. 

O, my hearers, the judgment of God, the solemn scru- 
tinies of the Great Day, the searchings of Jehovah, go 
to the depths of your being; to your thoughts, desires. 



JOSEPH KING. 589 



purposes, alms, the moral tendencies of your life, and a 
full revelation of the whole will be made. Does it not 
become you to strive after holiness; to be deeply in earn- 
est in seeking conformity to Christ, and in aiming to have 
your thoughts^ as well as words and a^ions^ pure ? 

The poet says : *^' Things are not what they seem." 
And we may say, some men are not what they seem. They 
are masked. They are one thing externally, and another 
thing internally. Their true life you do not see. They 
manage to conceal it. But in that day, to which we haste, 
vails will be rent away, and every man will appear before 
God and the world in his true charader. 

My brethren, do not be false. Be what you profess to 
be. Be true men ; and, above all things, seek to be clear 
of the last vestige of hypocrisy. Let your light shine. 

And now, in conclusion, let me ask: Are you prepared 
for this searching, righteous judgment of God ? O man, 
dying man, accountable man, '' Prepare to meet thy God." 
Delay not the work of preparation. The day of which I 
have spoken ; the final day ; '' the dying day of the world ;" 
" the day which none unholy ought to name," the T>ay of 
Judgment^ will come. It is drawing near. Soon it will 
come upon the whole world. May God, the Judge of all, 
approve thee in that day. Amen, 



The End. 




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